


Sleepwalking in Stardust

by jashinist_feminist



Category: Naruto, Passengers (2016)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Space, Crossover, M/M, Sex in Space, bottom!hidan, bottom!kakuzu, konan is a strong independent woman who don't need no man, pain is a hologram, serial killers get stuck on a starship, the zombie combie in space, they switch!, top!hidan, top!kakuzu, zetsu is a bartender
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-17
Updated: 2019-04-22
Packaged: 2019-04-24 06:57:13
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 11
Words: 28,772
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14350278
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jashinist_feminist/pseuds/jashinist_feminist
Summary: Kakuzu and Hidan are both passengers abroad the starship Akatsuki, travelling to the colony world of Daybreak II. They each have their reasons for embarking on their journey, but their plans for a new life are interrupted when they are prematurely awoken, ninety years before disembarkment.Complete opposites in every way but for their immortality and murderous habits, and forced to tolerate each other for an entire lifetime, will they ever make it to their new home and complete their separate missions?





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> the idea for this fic came when i finally watched the movie Passengers. i really liked the premise of the film, but certain aspects let me down. however, one of my first thoughts was "...hey, what if this happened to Kakuzu and Hidan? they're immortal, so it wouldn't be a problem for them" which got me thinking, and then...well, this fic happened! XD
> 
> credit for the title goes to the lovely thatshipcat! thank you kitty! <3

THE STARSHIP AKATSUKI  
DESTINATION: THE COLONY WORLD OF DAYBREAK II  
STATUS: AUTOPILOT  
CREW: 256  
PASSENGERS: 5000

The starship Akatsuki glided through the depths of space.

Three helix wings protruded from a long thin needle in the middle, each spinning in a steady spiral. Brilliant blue heat trailed from the engines at the bottom, pulsating and pushing the spiralling ship forwards towards her destination.

A red clouded logo emblazoned onto the side of the ship glinted in the reflection of burning stars, starkly contrasting against the sleek black metal.

Inside the ship, computer systems bleeped and purred, carrying out their tasks, whilst two hundred and fifty-six crew members slept in stasis. Each of them was enclosed inside a hibernation pod, tucked away in the command ring of the ship. No hearts beat, no blood pumped through their veins, no lungs gasped air. Neither alive, nor dead, but instead waiting. Waiting for the right moment, at the right time, to be revived to land the ship.

And in each of the wings of the spinning helixes, five thousand passengers slept in stasis, all of them within hibernation pods too, arranged in clusters. All of them blissfully unaware of the movements of the ship that cradled them to their new home. The new home where they would make a fresh start, change their lives, reinvent themselves.

In one of the passenger hibernation pods, a tanned, well-built man with many scars and stitches all over his body slumbered. If there was anyone awake to see him, they would be forgiven for thinking that he was in the prime of his life, perhaps his late forties at most, maybe an ex-soldier, travelling to enjoy the rest of his life in the lapse of luxury.

Several rows of pods away, a silver-haired pale-skinned man slept. With his handsome youthful looks and sculpted figure, anyone would be forgiven for mistaking him for a star athlete, a rockstar, or even a model. A silver chain with an unusual pendent of an inverted triangle enclosed within a circle dangled around his neck, falling over his chest.

In the starlight slipping through the narrow windows, the silver pendent gleamed and winked.

And as the two very different men slept, the ship surged on.


	2. Awakening

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kakuzu wakes up from hibernation, and is shown to his cabin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> here we have the first actual chapter! it's still a bit prologue-y (is that a word?!) as i'm still introducing things, but they'll be more action next time XD
> 
> the dialogue of the hologram (and therefore Kakuzu's responses to it) are heavily based on that from the film. i felt that the dialogue used by the hologram in the film was a generic greeting for all the passengers, and so decided it was necessary to replicate it for my fic.
> 
> i do feel like this chapter is a bit 'he did this, he did that' as the only actual character here is Kuzu, and he's sleepy so not really thinking straight, if anyone has any advice on how to make it a bit more engaging, i'd love to hear!

“Good morning, Kakuzu. How are you feeling?”

A deep voice penetrated though the drowsy darkness. Kakuzu blinked sleepily, consciousness recalling itself to his body. He opened his eyes properly, before being immediately confronted by the face that danced before his eyes. Even in his barely lucid state, he noticed the spiky ginger hair of the figure, the purple swirled pupils of his eyes, and the many black piercings that dotted the figure’s face; three either side of his nose, two snakebites, and several in his earlobes.

He grunted, and then coughed, clearing his throat as he inhaled and exhaled for the first time in many years.

“It’s perfectly normal to feel confused,” the figure explained.

Kakuzu lifted his hand, noticing the familiar tattooed bands and stitches around his wrist, and attempted to prod the man’s face, only to watch his hand slip through the hologram. The hologram blurred and wavered at his clumsy touch.

“Confused…” murmured Kakuzu.

“You’ve just spent one hundred and twenty years in hibernation aboard the starship Akatsuki,” finished the figure.

“I did what?” Kakuzu gaped, his dark brows knotting. The idea sounded crazy…preposterous…even. Kakuzu wondered briefly what kind of dream he must be having, and willed himself to wake up.

“It’s ok, Kakuzu,” assured the hologram, as Kakuzu realised more and more that he was _not_ dreaming, and that this was real. “Everything is ok. My name is Pain, and I’ll be your introduction to the wonders of the Akatsuki.”

“What’s happening?” he growled warily, as the bed within the pod lifted up, out of the pod, and moved smoothly over to an unfamiliar compartment at the edge of the hibernation hall. As the bed moved, Kakuzu tried to look out of the sides of the bed, but the sides were too high, and the hologram had locked him firmly in place to deliver its message.

“You’re a passenger on the Starship Akatsuki, the New Dawn company’s interstellar line,” explained Pain. Kakuzu blinked, before deciding that the piercings of the hologram were there to be relatable to the more ‘younger’ and ‘hip’ passengers. “We’ve nearly completed the voyage from earth to the colony world of Daybreak II. A new world, a fresh start, room to grow.”

“Money…” Kakuzu muttered to himself, his memories and reasons for his voyage a dim recollection that flickered through his mind like a damaged projector wheel.

Inside the compartment, blue light bathed over him, scanning his body. Vital signs and statistics lit up within the compartment. Five sets of data lit up for his hearts. Kakuzu tried to watch them all, tried to analyse them and what they said, but his mind was still foggy with sleep, his eyes drifting shut, and then re-opening.

“There are four months until the Akatsuki arrives. For the duration of the rest of your voyage, you’ll enjoy space travel in its most luxurious form,” Pain carried on.

Kakuzu paid little attention to the promises of luxury, instead trying to focus all his energy on opening his eyes properly and looking around completely.

“The ID band on your wrist is your key to the wonders of the Akatsuki,” Pain held up his wrist to demonstrate. Kakuzu glanced down at his tattooed wrist, to see an identical band to the hologram’s, but with a different number and his own name inscribed on. The silver metal band contrasted against the dark blue tattoos encircling his wrist.

“You’re in perfect health, Kakuzu. Please follow the signs to your cabin so you can get some rest.”

With that, the blue light faded, and Kakuzu climbed upright, out of the bed. He heard the whir of the bed moving away behind him, returning to the inside of the pod, whilst he took his first steps out of the compartment, and into the corridors.

He followed a series of sleek white corridors, bare feet padding on the metal floor. Kakuzu blinked, and then rubbed his temples. As he staggered along, he realised that he was only wearing his hibernation clothes; a form fitting black pair of shorts and a vest, with the New Dawn logo embroidered on the left side of the chest of the vest and on the bottom of the right leg of the shorts. To his surprise, he wasn’t cold, as he found that the floors were heated beneath the palm of his feet, and the heat travelled up to produce a pleasant warm environment within the ship.

“You may be experiencing post-hibernation sickness,” explained Pain’s voice through an intercom system, as Kakuzu unexpectedly stumbled on the smooth floor for no reason. He lifted his hands and rubbed his temples again, realising that there was a dull ache at the back of his head. His mouth was dry, and he licked his lips thirstily. “Your door will illuminate for you.”

One of the white doors along the corridor lit up, and Kakuzu followed.

“Please scan your wristband to gain access to your room.”

Kakuzu did as instructed, before finding himself a small compartment. There was a cabin bed, several white storage cupboards, and a door leading off to an en suite shower. It was a tight fit, but at least it was only for four months.

Once they arrived, he could live wherever the hell he wanted.

“Welcome to your cabin.” Pain reappeared in his room, standing in a projection space between two of the storage cupboards. This time, Kakuzu could see the upper two thirds of his body, noting that the hologram wore a black uniform with a red clouded logo over the breast. “This will be your home before disembarkment. Over the next four months, you’ll prepare for your new life on Daybreak II, meet your fellow passengers, take skill building classes, and learn about colonial living. You’ve been assigned to either learning group 1, for passengers with medical and pathological skills, or learning group 5, for passengers with financial skills, or learning group 6, for passengers with combat skills. The choice is yours. Please scan your ID to confirm luggage delivery.”

There was the slide of a door opening. Kakuzu turned to see that his briefcase he carried everywhere and the extra suitcase he’d brought with him rested safely in a luggage compartment. He almost sighed with relief, but first he had to check. He gave a quick glance at the hologram that waited for him, before flicking open his briefcase.

Inside, nestled his piles of money. Even as his head throbbed, and limbs ached, Kakuzu grinned. He closed the briefcase, then flicked open his suitcase. His books had arrived safely too. The plan was working out perfectly so far.

“Kakuzu, please scan your ID to confirm luggage delivery,” repeated Pain.

Satisfied that his belongings were with him safely and that there had been no tampering of them, Kakuzu took a step across the cabin, reached out and scanned his ID band against where Pain gestured to.

“To make a successful recovery from hibernation, make sure to drink plenty of fluids,” instructed Pain.

Automatically a water dispenser built into the wall beside the bed began to fill a glass container with millilitres etched on the side. Without wanting to think too much about it, Kakuzu supposed that was so that passengers could measure how much water they were drinking as they recovered. He stumbled away from his luggage, and towards the dispenser.

Kakuzu clasped the glass as soon as the dispenser finished, pressed it against his lips and took a deep sip, feeling the ache in his head and the nauseas subside slightly. He moved it away, to gasp some breaths of air, before taking another large gulp of the water, draining the glass.

“Enjoy the rest of your voyage on the Akatsuki, a New Dawn company starship,” said Pain, before flickering away, leaving Kakuzu alone again.

His luggage was here safely, he was in good health, there was no cause for concern. All he had to do now was rest and sleep off the hibernation sickness. Kakuzu sat down on the single bed. The mattress had the unfortunate sensation of being too hard, yet not supportive in the slightest. He grunted disappointedly, wanting nothing more than to spread out and fall into a deep sleep. But it was functional, and for now, it would do.

At least he would only be here for four months.

He pulled aside the thin black coverlet and crawled beneath it, still wearing the hibernation clothes, too tired to fetch a pair of pyjamas from his case. As he stretched his body out, his feet practically dangled off the edge, and the blanket barely covered his broad shoulders.

He’d slept in less comfortable places, including out in the wild. He could deal with it.

Immediately, his deep green and red eyes flickered shut, and his mind went blank.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> feel free to comment and leave any feedback, i am grateful for short/long comments, and am open to constructive criticism. i also love to talk! <3


	3. First Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kakuzu wakes up to attend orientation day...but quickly realises that he's a little too...early.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> here is the next chapter! sorry for the wait, as i was away last weekend. i'm back now, and ready to get back into updating.
> 
> again, i feel like a lot of the dialogue in this chapter is heavily based on the movie because some of the dialogue is generic information from the machines etc, and i imagine Kakuzu reacting to them and saying similar things to the main character from the movie. Only slightly more angrily hehe!
> 
> also i am slightly concerned that there's more of 'he did this, he did that' so any feedback on how to make this more engaging would be greatly appreciated!
> 
> i hope you will enjoy nonetheless!

_'Good morning one and all, it’s your friendly DJ Tobi here! It’s a beautiful day aboard the starship Akatsuki. Let’s start the New Dawn and the new day off with one of my favourite songs from back on Earth!’_

Kakuzu opened one bleary eye, as the cold white lights flicked on and the radio began blaring from a small speaker built into the wall, obnoxiously placed right above his head. Although he would have happily slept for several more hours, Kakuzu found to his pleasure that his head no longer hurt, and he no longer felt so nauseas. He climbed out of bed and took a better look around at the room.

In this slightly more lucid state, he was able to take everything in. The cabin was just as small as he had remembered, but now Kakuzu observed the plain black tiling on the floor, the sleek white walls reflecting the light back at him, with matching built in storage cupboards that did the same thing. He stared back down at the bed, wondering how he’d managed to sleep in it at all. Opposite his bed, there was the interactive screen that Pain had appeared in. It was now displaying a stylised model of the ship.

Kakuzu worked out that he could change the screen to various nature scenes with a remote control lying on his bedside table. He flicked through, until he found a pleasing scene of the waterfalls at Takigakure.

Then, Kakuzu felt like he really needed a shower. He wandered into the en suite, taking a good look around. It was almost exactly the same as his suite, with practical black tiling on the floor and up the sides of the shower. He stripped off the form fitting hibernation clothes, stepped below the nozzle of the shower and flicked on the switch.

Immediately, hot water cascaded over his shoulders, soothing his aching cramped muscles. Kakuzu gave a small groan of pleasure, and stood with his eyes closed, enjoying the relief.

After a few moments, he turned with his eyes closed, reached out and attempted to push the shower nozzle higher so that he could wash his hair. After a brief struggle, he opened his eyes to realised that it was already on the highest part of the bar.

Kakuzu grunted, unimpressed. He stooped instead, ducking under the nozzle, so that it submerged his hair. With his thick, black-brown shoulder length hair, it took a while until he felt that it was completely wet. Once rivulets began trailing down his back and tickling his masks, he stood back upright and reached for the generic shampoo mounted in a dispenser on the wall. He squirted a handful into his palm, before massaging it onto the back of his head, feeling the foam expand beneath his fingertips. With a shake of his head, he allowed the suds to slide down his shoulders, and then began to rinse away the sleepy grime of the past century.

He towelled himself off, then with the towel slung around his hips, stepped back out into the cabin, where he made his way over to his luggage. He picked up the briefcase, and then laid it on his bed. He opened it again, just to check that no one had tampered with its contents during the time he’d been sleeping and recuperating from hibernation.

But the bank notes remained untouched, since he had packed them all those years ago.

Kakuzu reclosed the briefcase, then glanced around the cabin, looking for a more secure hiding place. Eventually, he settled on placing it inside the small cabinet beside the bed, that had a secure lock that he could only access by using his ID wrist band.

He picked up the suitcase, and then laid it on the bed where his briefcase had been. He unlocked the padlock and pulled back the lid.

He allowed his fingers to gently trace the spines of his books, all safely and securely stored. He inhaled deeply, that warm, familiar comforting musty smell of books almost alien in the sleek setting of his cabin. Kakuzu reached in, and picked one up, holding it close to his nose. It almost seemed wrong, the books being here on a starship, of all places. He felt like they should be on a shelf, an old wooden shelf, buried deep within a library somewhere.

But they were here, with him. By now, they were even more antique than when he had laid his hands on them. On Daybreak II, they would be the only physical copies. Kakuzu could only begin to imagine how valuable they must be now.

He slipped the book back in the pile, and moved to the small, zip-up compartment inside the case where he had stored some clothes. He hadn’t bothered to bring many, focusing on selecting the bare minimum so that he could have more space in his suitcase. Clothes were functional, not a luxury.

He’d been offered the choice of attending learning group 1, for his medical and pathological skills, or learning group 5, for his financial skills, or learning group 6, for his combat skills. What kind of person did he want to be in his new life?

He went with group 5, for his financial skills, deciding that it worked better with his mission. And for that matter, it would be prudent to cover up his scars and stitches as much as possible, lest his fellow passengers took him for a mere thug. Not that he cared of what anyone thought of him, but if his plans were to come to fruition, he had to make a good impression, and he cared little for what means he had to do to achieve it.

He pulled out a pair of black trousers, and a long-sleeved button up shirt, over which he wore a smart jacket. It almost felt strange to put socks on, after padding around barefoot for most of his time on the ship so far. Nonetheless, he selected a pair of smart shoes, that lay flat in the compartment of his suitcase beneath the other clothes.

Satisfied that he passed as a smart, well-dressed man with financial skills, he secured his belongings once again, before stepping out into the corridors.

_'Where the hell is everybody?'_

Kakuzu frowned at the empty white corridors and the silent hum from the ship. On a ship of over five thousand people, it would be highly likely that there had to be noise from the other passengers. Be it general talking, music playing, footsteps echoing, or even snoring.

Kakuzu looked at the shiny white flooring and walls and reminded himself that the Akatsuki was a state of the art starship. It was likely that it had noise-cancelling insulation with the sleeping quarters. Maybe once he was in the ‘social’ area of the ship, there would be noise.

Even so, surely he’d expect to see his fellow passengers littering the corridors as he was? Kakuzu wasn’t late, he had ensured that he had got out of bed promptly, then washed and dressed within a timely manner. He couldn’t be late.

Then that meant he must be early. That seemed much more likely. But all the same, he expected that at least someone would have had the same nature of promptness like him, if they had been allocated to the same skills group then they’d likely have a similar mindset and values.

Kakuzu found the door to the room that his skills group had been assigned. As he stood in the doorway, it automatically slid open for him. He stepped in, and then found himself in a room full of sleek white benches, a stage where the red clouded logo hovered in hologram form, and was once again, devoid of people.

As soon as he entered, triumphant music began to play. Kakuzu stared at the hologram, as it morphed from the Akatsuki logo into Pain, the pierced man who’d greeted him when he woke up from hibernation.

“Hello learning group 5,” greeted Pain, in his deep voice. His purple swirled eyes bored blankly through Kakuzu. “Will you all please take a seat?”

Assuming that the hologram was automatic and had switched on as soon as the first passenger had arrived, Kakuzu did as instructed, and then waited for the rest of the passengers to arrive.

“My name is Pain. You will have already met me upon awakening from hibernation,” Pain carried on. “Welcome to your introduction to colonial life.”

Kakuzu frowned, thinking that the generic introduction had gone on slightly long for just telling the passengers to sit down once they arrived.

“Earth is the cradle of human civilization.” Pain raised an arm and gestured to a hologram of earth that appeared beside him on the stage. As he did so, several hologram images of built up cities, war-ravaged towns and scenes of pollution also appeared next to it. “But despite this, war is recurrent, and there are few stable countries to live in. Every year, millions of lives are lost, and lands are ravaged.”

Now, Kakuzu knew he had to say something. No one had arrived, and this speech had gone on far too long to tell early birds what to do once they had arrived. He glanced around quickly, ensuring that there really was no one here, and that he wasn’t going completely mad, before raising his hand.

“Excuse me, but I think this speech may have begun too soon-”

“Hold off questions until the end please,” replied Pain, lifting a finger to shush Kakuzu. The polluted scenes of earth disappeared and were replaced instead with scenes of lush greenery and fresh oceans. “The colonies offer an alternative. A better way of life.”

“Where are all the other passengers?” Kakuzu couldn’t resist interrupting again, this time louder and more forcefully.

“And there’s no colony more beautiful than Daybreak II,” Pain proudly announced, holding up their hand again to show another hologram of the planet. “The second planet to be colonised by the New Dawn company.”

Kakuzu shook his head disbelievingly. “Where is everybody?” he demanded.

“We are all on the starship Akatsuki,” replied Pain, with a smile.

“I’m the only one here,” Kakuzu frowned, his anger rising at this stupid punk hologram treating him like a fool.

“There are, five thousand passengers, and, two hundred and fifty-eight crew members,” Pain answered.

“If that’s true, then why am I alone?” Kakuzu barked.

“We are all in this together,” Pain soothingly replied.

Kakuzu stared at the hologram, and then around the room again. His green and red eyes flickered. Panic forced its way up from his belly, up his gullet, and into his throat. Abruptly, he leapt upright, and barged out the room, ignoring the useless hologram. He ran down the corridors and following back the way he came.

“Hello?” he shouted, as he jogged along. “Is there anybody here?”

He ran past his cabin and into another row of cabins. They were all the same, sleek white metal and modern font detailing the cabin numbers and directions around the ship. Kakuzu slammed on the doors with his clenched fist as he ran along, hoping to awake or alert whoever was inside...if they were inside, but he dared not think of that possibility yet. There were a few promotional logos of the company and sketches of the ship in interactive screens mounted onto the walls, but they were purely decorative and lacked any form of useful information.

“Hello?” he shouted.

He ran out of the cabin area, until he found another corridor, but this time there was a chunky, airlocked window. Kakuzu ran over eagerly, hoping that he might be able to deduce what was going on from their position in space. If they were due to land in four months, then Daybreak II ought to be visible at this part of the journey.

Kakuzu bent over, and stared out, twisting his body at all angles so that he could see as much of the surroundings as possible. Instead, all he saw was space. Black night sky, spangled stars dotted around, nebula, drifting constellations, but no planets or anything that resembled the visual models of Daybreak II.

There was still the possibility that he simply wasn’t in a suitable place on the ship to see the planet, but the solar system surrounding the ship didn’t look like any of the pictures that Kakuzu had studied before boarding the ship.

However, stargazing was not Kakuzu’s area of expertise, at least not in the way that hoarding money was. He had no idea what he was looking at.

He turned the corner, discovering an elevator. He flicked the button, and immediately, the first set of white decorative secure doors that matched the rest of the corridor opened, and then the second pair of doors opened, which were more industrial and made of silver steel.

Kakuzu stepped in and sat on one of the cushioned seats that sat around the elevator in a half-ring, as a cool female voice announced. “Please buckle your seatbelts and secure any loose items. This elevator will experience a momentary lapse in gravity.”

Kakuzu did as instructed, and the elevator whirred into life. His mind sped a million miles per second, as he wondered what was going on. The elevator cart picked up speed, and Kakuzu glanced out the windows. There was a clearer view of the night sky now, as the elevator connected the different parts of the ship to the other. He suddenly felt his body tug against the seatbelt, as the gravity lapsed. His long dark hair started to drift upright. Kakuzu quickly brushed it down, finding the lack of gravity to unsettle his thoughts even more.

Once the elevator arrived, Kakuzu felt somewhat more settled. He would find a crew member and discover what was going on.

“Grand concourse,” announced the female voice.

The doors slid open, and Kakuzu entered a long open space designed for the passengers to meet and mingle with one another. Several more blue holograms swirled in the air with logos of the New Dawn company. Apart from the main hall where he stood, there were two other floors above him with balconies overlooking the floor that he stood on. Various parts of the concourse led off into different shops, bars, restaurants, entertainment rooms, and at the very top of the room, there was a glass domed ceiling, so that he could see space outside.

Immediately at his arrival, the lights beamed up, and Kakuzu could see that the floor was a metallic yet matte silver, and the walls glowed white, much like cabin area. To his right, a decorative fountain sprung into action, water plummeting up and down in the centre of the round pool

But other than that, it was empty.

“Hello! Welcome to the Grand Concourse aboard the starship Akatsuki!” greeted an information kiosk that stood a few metres away from him in the middle of the floor, a series of emojis swirling around its projected screen. “May I help you?”

Kakuzu jogged over.

“I’d like to speak to a crew member,” he announced, standing in front of the kiosk.

“What kind of crew member?” asked the kiosk. Several different icons for the various crew members popped up. “The flight crew? The deck chief?”

“None of those,” Kakuzu exasperatedly shook his head. “Somebody who helps passengers.”

“The ship steward deals with passenger enquiries,” replied the kiosk. “They can be found on level three of the Grand Concourse.”

“Thank you,” said Kakuzu, although wondering why the hell he was being polite to a machine of all things.

“Happy to help!” the kiosk cheerily replied, before displaying a happy emoji face that Kakuzu ignored.

He climbed the stairs, before finding himself on level three. He walked down to the office labelled for the ship steward. The door slid open automatically at his arrival, and Kakuzu stepped in.

The desk and chair were empty.

Kakuzu glanced around at the whole room. It wasn’t just empty, but there were no signs of life. No papers left lying around, no folders stacked neatly to aside, not even the slightest stray coffee cup that indicated that someone had been here. The chair was positioned generically behind the desk and gave no sign that someone had recently vacated it. When Kakuzu glanced around to look at the computer, it was switched off.

“What the fu…?” Kakuzu growled. He turned, and ran straight back down to the information kiosk. All five of his hearts thudded in anticipation.

“Who is flying this ship?” he demanded.

“Captain Nagato, Chief Mate Konan, the flight crew, the pilot, the chief deck-” the kiosk began to reel off a list of staff members and showing a series of matching emojis.

“I want to speak to the captain!” Kakuzu shouted.

“Captain Nagato does not handle passenger enquiries.”

“It’s an emergency!” Kakuzu retorted. “Where can I find him?”

“Captain Nagato is usually found in the Bridge, in the Command Ring.”

Kakuzu ran out of the Grand Concourse, and quickly consulted a map on the wall. He found the directions to the Command Ring, and then ran there. Hearts thudding, as he arrived he had barely any time to notice that this part of the ship had been designed less aesthetically, and more functionally. The noise of the engines and machines grew louder.

Kakuzu walked through the Command Ring, before finding the Bridge where the captain overlooked the ship. At the sealed door, Kakuzu lifted his wrist and waved his ID band at it. One of the doors unravelled. Kakuzu took a step forward, and waited for the second door to open.

“Bridge access requires special authorised permission,” the female voice announced.

Kakuzu growled with frustration, before waving his ID band again.

“Bridge access requires special authorised permission,” repeated the voice. Kakuzu stepped as closely as possible as he could to the door and glanced in through the narrow-slotted window.

Immediately, he spotted two chairs, desks, and several hovering blue tables of information about the flight. But the Bridge was otherwise empty.

“This is a fucking joke!” he cried.

Kakuzu stood, disbelievingly, for a few moments, debating what on earth was going on, and what on earth he was supposed to do. With no immediate means of accessing the Bridge or being able to talk to someone, he slowly began to walk further along the Command Ring, giving desperate glances into the small, slotted windows of the doors to see if there was someone, anyone, he could talk to.

Eventually, he began to wander back through the areas of the ship designated for passengers. Kakuzu lost track of where he was in the maze of white halls and corridors. He came to the end of a corridor, and into a large room that had an equally large window stretched across the whole wall staring out into space. The lights flickered on at the back of the room, but away from the window to allow the passengers to see out clearly at what was going on. The same triumphant music that played when he arrived in the orientation room earlier began to play again.

“Welcome to the observatory,” announced a deep male voice, much deeper than Kakuzu’s own. Several floating planets, asteroids, and nebula floated in mid-air, to decorate the room and demonstrate the purpose of the room. “What can I show you?”

Kakuzu stepped down the broad rows of seats, getting closer to the window.

“No one is awake,” Kakuzu announced. "We're meant to land soon. Where is everyone?"

“I don’t understand. What can I show you?” asked the voice again.

Kakuzu sighed, before changing tact. Perhaps if he rephrased his questions in a manner that the observatory had been programmed to understand, he’d be able to get the information he needed to know.

“Show me Daybreak II,” he commanded.

“Daybreak II,” replied the deep voice, as a hologram projection of Daybreak II appeared in mid-air.

“Right,” said Kakuzu. “And where are we?”

“We are in transit, from Earth to Daybreak II,” said the voice. Earth appeared in the room, a few metres away from Daybreak II. A dotted trail appeared to connect the two planets, with a projection of the ship travelling between them. “We will arrive in approximately ninety years.”

Anger surged through Kakuzu.

_“WHAT?”_

“We arrive at Daybreak II in approximately ninety years, thirty-eight weeks, and one day,” replied the voice.

“How long ago did we leave Earth?” demanded Kakuzu.

Of course, he knew what the answer was likely to be, but he just had to make sure. He had to be certain, before he lost complete control of his rage.

“Approximately thirty years ago,” replied the voice.

Kakuzu stared horrified at the projected image of the Akatsuki ship.

He’d woken up too soon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> you know the drill - comments, concerns, questions, let me know! i'm open to constructive criticism, and i love to talk, fire away! <3


	4. Hibernation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kakuzu decides to try and research a way back into hibernation, but his hope diminishes as quickly as his options do.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you for the super sweet supportive comments on my last chapter! here is the next update, i hope you will enjoy. i'm still concerned my description isn't thorough enough and that my dialogue is too similar to the film, i think this will improve once my story diverts from the film a little more, but I took some advice from the lovely Kitty (thank you as always!) and make Kakuzu's dialogue more snappy. i'd love some feedback on this.  
> also...introducing Zetsu, the robot bartender, who takes the role of Arthur from the film!

Kakuzu breathed heavily and deeply, and forced himself to calm. _You will not die here,_ he reminded himself. _You have five hearts. You’re in good, stable condition. Stranger things have happened to you before. There must be something else you can try._

With that, Kakuzu turned his back on the useless voice of the observatory, heading back towards the Grand Concourse. Once he arrived and the doors slid open, Kakuzu stamped straight back over to the information kiosk for the third time, and it glowed blue-green to acknowledge him.

“How do I send a message to earth?” he demanded urgently.

“Interstellar messages are sent by laser ray. Please be aware that this is an expensive service,” replied the kiosk.

Kakuzu groaned. This day was rapidly getting worse and worse. But sensing the emergency, he quickly pulled himself together. With the amount of compensation he planned to demand from the New Dawn company for this inconvenient and untimely awakening, he could afford to send this message several times over.

“Where can I find it?” he asked.

“To your left, within the booth,” replied the kiosk.

“Thank you,” said Kakuzu, turning to spot a booth tucked away in the shiny white walls on his left side. He could already see the laser ray message machine inside, a screensaver glowing against the blank screen.

“Happy to help!” the kiosk changed to show the happy face emoji, which Kakuzu once again ignored as he strode across the floor, slipped inside the booth, sat down at the machine, and scanned his wristband.

“Laser Ray Communication Device activated,” the machine announced, as the screen flicked on. “How can I help you?”

“I need to send a message to Earth,” said Kakuzu, his green and red eyes roving over the computer set-up.

“Whom do you wish to contact on earth?”

“The New Dawn company,” replied Kakuzu.

“There are thirty thousand, eight hundred and thirty-six contacts listed under New Dawn company.”

“I’m emigrating to Daybreak II and I have an emergency,” Kakuzu explained, hoping that would narrow it down.

“I have a customer helpline,” explained the machine, displaying the number and contact details.

That sounded familiar.

“I’ll take the customer helpline,” said Kakuzu.

The machine switched on a video recording. Kakuzu grimaced. He hated having his picture taken.

“Please leave a message,” instructed the machine.

“My name is Kakuzu, and I am a passenger on board the starship Akatsuki. I have a complaint to make. I’ve woken up too soon. Ninety years too soon!” Kakuzu tried to keep the bark out of his voice. He forced himself to calm, and sound somewhat reasonable. “I believe something may have gone wrong with my hibernation pod, and I don’t know how to get back to sleep. If I have to sit on this ship for ninety years…that’s a whole lifetime. And I’m…”

He trailed off, remembering that he had lived for over ninety years already.

Ninety years that had passed quickly, from action, from life.

How was he supposed to spend ninety years just sitting on a stupid ship?

His earlier panic forced itself back up into his gullet. Kakuzu swallowed it back down rapidly to finish his sentence. “And I’m going to sue the living backside off you if I don’t get to Daybreak II!”

Kakuzu stabbed the send button.

“Message sent,” replied the machine. Having sent the message, Kakuzu felt some of the rage within him fizzle away, and something resembling calm settled over him. He slouched in the seat, exhaustedly. His head had began to throb again, as it had when he’d awoken from hibernation. On the screen in front of him, a chart appeared, showing planet earth and the Akatsuki ship. “Message will arrive in nineteen years. Earliest reply, in fifty-five years.”

“Fifty-five years?!” hissed Kakuzu.

“We apologise for the delay,” replied the machine. “That will be six thousand ryo.”

“Fuck you!” Kakuzu yelled, slamming his clenched fist on the keyboard.

Morosely, he climbed up, and started to wander down the concourse. He’d tried every logical thing that he could think of, and now he struggled to think of what else to do. He passed by entertainment rooms, ignoring a cinema, a gym, arcades, restaurants, before he stopped outside a bar.

Initially, he ignored the bar, having never had much use for alcohol. It was a waste of money, after all.

But in the corner of his eye, a figure moved.

Kakuzu’s head snapped round, to spot a barman tucked behind the counter polishing a glass. The sight looked so normal, so mundane, that it was almost ridiculous. Kakuzu strode in urgently, and then stopped and stared, halfway in the bar, hoping this wasn’t an illusion.

“Good afternoon,” greeted the barman, his pale green eyes flitting up to spot Kakuzu. He sounded so nonchalant and casual, that Kakuzu felt as though none of the previous events had just occurred, and he’d simply slipped into an inn whilst on his way to collect a bounty.

Maybe everything was perfectly normal, and everything that had just happened was a bad reaction from hibernation sickness.

Kakuzu looked at the barman. One half of his body was white, the other was black, and he had pale spiky green hair. Some of his flesh looked normal, but Kakuzu could see small vein-like wires beneath his white skin, and on the black half of his body, Kakuzu wasn't even sure what it was made of. The barman wore a black uniform with the familiar red cloud logo of the New Dawn company on the blazer breast, a smart white shirt underneath, and a red tie to match the red cloud of the logo.

“Who the hell are you?” Kakuzu gaped, almost disbelievingly. “I was starting to think I was the only one awake.”

“Who wants to sleep on a bright day like today?” asked the barman, gesturing around the empty bar.

“No, we’re not supposed to be awake yet,” explained Kakuzu, once again feeling the sneaking sensation that something wasn’t right.

“Well, I won’t tell if you don’t,” said the barman. He placed the glass down, and laid his hands down on the bar top. He offered Kakuzu an expectant smile. “What can I get for you?”

“What?” Kakuzu frowned. Why wasn’t the bartender concerned?

The barman scanned him with those slightly unnerving pale green eyes. “You know, I think you look like a whiskey man.”

“I don’t drink,” replied Kakuzu.

“I think you need it,” said Zetsu.

“All right,” agreed Kakuzu. One drink wouldn’t be too much of an addition on his room tab, and after the horror he’d woken up to, he supposed he needed it.

The barman jolted back in a smooth yet sudden notion, then swivelled around to the shelves behind him to reach for the whiskey bottle. Kakuzu leant forwards over the bar to get a better look. He discovered that whilst the barman had the appearance of a man from the waist up, from the waist down he had a single metal leg, that gave away his secret.

“Of course you’re another useless robot,” sighed Kakuzu, slumping into a barstool disappointedly.

“I’m an android, actually,” replied the barman, turning back to pour Kakuzu’s drink on the counter in front of him.

“An android, fantastic,” grumbled Kakuzu. “Along with useless holograms, stupid machines and ridiculous robots, now I find an android. Do you have a name?”

“You can call me Zetsu,” replied the android.

“I’m Kakuzu,” said Kakuzu, accepting the glass of whiskey.

“Pleased to meet you, Kakuzu,” said Zetsu, holding out his white hand. Kakuzu accepted it, and shook it, feeling the wires beneath the synthetic skin.

When Zetsu released his hand, he screwed the bottle top back on the whiskey bottle, turned around in a smooth mechanical motion, and slotted it back on the shelf, before turning back to face Kakuzu.

Kakuzu took a sip of the whiskey, before tilting his head curiously. “How much do you know about this ship?”

“I don’t know,” Zetsu gave a congenial shrug. “I know a thing or two.”

“What do I do if my hibernation pod malfunctions?” asked Kakuzu.

“Hibernation pods are fail safe. They never malfunction,” assured Zetsu.

Kakuzu fought the urge to punch the android into a mess of wires and mental chunks, and then steal the whole bottle of whiskey with his hand still through Zetsu.

“Well, I woke up early,” he corrected.

“That can’t happen,” replied Zetsu, reaching for another tumbler.

Kakuzu tilted his head, wondering if like with interactive voice in the observatory, if he rephrased his questions he could try and get the answers he needed from Zetsu. “How long until we get to Daybreak II?”

Zetsu tilted his head as his hands wiped a cloth around the rim of the class. “About ninety years or so.”

“And when are all the passengers supposed to wake up?” Kakuzu couldn’t resist adding a mocking ring to his voice.

“Not until the last four months,” replied Zetsu, ignoring the ring.

“Then how is it that I’m a passenger, and I’m sitting here with you, with ninety years to go?” asked Kakuzu.

Zetsu stared at him. His head jerked slightly, as if there was an error running through his body. “Hmm. It’s not possible for you to be here.”

Kakuzu’s shoulders slouched. Of course the android wasn’t going to be able to tell him anything useful.

“Well, I am,” growled Kakuzu, taking another sip of whiskey. He swallowed the rest of the glass bitterly, and then shook his head. Some of the nausea that he had experienced from his awakening from hibernation had returned, to join the throbbing ache. He supposed the running around, the stress, and then the alcohol certainly hadn’t helped.

What he needed more than anything was a clear and level mind. If no one was awake, then there was no one to threaten him. He could put his guard down and take some rest, and then when his mind had cleared, he would find a way to put himself back into hibernation. If the ship crew and the New Dawn company couldn’t help him, Kakuzu would have to help himself. He was no stranger to that after all.

No way would he sit on this ship for ninety years. No fucking way.

* * *

The lights in Kakuzu’s cabin flickered on the following day, and the radio blared into action.

_“Good morning, it’s DJ Tobi! It’s another beautiful day here on the Akatsuki! So wake up sunshine, it’s time to relax and enjoy your stay!”_

Kakuzu rolled over in bed onto his back, feeling the masks dig in as he ignored the overly cheery voice. After the events of the previous day, what would have vaguely annoyed him irritated him to no end. Perhaps he’d look into modifying the wiring of the light and sound system in this cabin so that he could turn on and off the lights whenever he wanted, and choosing what sounds he wanted to listen to and when, so that he could let himself sleep in for as long as he wanted.

_“Let’s get you cool cats up and ready with another one of my favourite songs from back on earth!”_

Upon being referred to as a ‘Cool Cat,’ Kakuzu flung himself upright and aimed at punch at the speaker. DJ Tobi spluttered, before cutting off completely. Relieved, Kakuzu leant back against his pillow and rubbed his eyes from sleep, flexing his muscles. He hadn’t slept well the previous night. Having successfully recuperated from hibernation, the small and narrow bed was now beginning to annoy him.

But enough of that. Today, he would find a way to put himself back into preparation. Surely, on a ship as well-equipped as the Akatsuki, there would be hibernation technology. How could the New Dawn company not prepare for this scenario? Kakuzu always believed that if you were prepared, there would be no sorrow.

With that, he sat up. His stomach gave a loud growl. Yesterday, he hadn’t really fancied anything, as he was still recuperating from hibernation, but now he was ravenous.

Stepping over yesterday’s crumpled shirt and trousers as they lay discarded on the floor, Kakuzu opened his case and selected a pair of sensible tracksuit trousers and a plain t-shirt. After all, if there was no one awake to see him, it didn’t matter what he wore or what impression he gave. If he was going to spend today researching a way back into hibernation, he wanted to feel comfortable. Kakuzu combed through his hair, and tied it back in a bun at the back of his head, before he headed out.

He followed the signs in the cabin halls, to the dining room. The dining room was a white, tiled room, with matching tables and chairs lined up so that everyone could sit together and talk whilst they ate. At various intervals, a breakfast bar hung from the ceiling with several tabs on for the passengers to choose their breakfast.

As he stepped in, the lights behind the tiles flicked on, so that Kakuzu could see around more clearly. The whole room seemed wrong, being so empty. He made his way over to the breakfast bar, where he scanned his wristband on the tab.

“Please make a selection,” said the bar in an overly enthusiastic female voice, showing him a display of coffees.

Kakuzu stabbed the screen.

“Sorry, the doppio expresso is reserved for gold star passengers.”

He stabbed it again defiantly.

“Sorry, the doppio expresso is reserved-”

Irritation spiked at the back of his head.

“I want the doppio expresso, bill my room,” barked Kakuzu.

“Food can be purchased from the ship steward-” the voice on the bar replied.

Kakuzu stabbed another tab.

“Sorry, the café crema,” the machine began, before Kakuzu stabbed the third tab. And then a fourth, and a fifth. “Sorry – sorry - sorry, the pumpkin spice – sorry – sorry, the Turkish coffee – sorry – sorry.”

Kakuzu stabbed them all with frustration before reaching the last one.

“Flat White,” announced the bar, opening to produce a plain cup of coffee. “Enjoy your coffee.”

Kakuzu accepted it, and then swiped his wristband again, to see what there was on offer for him to eat.

“General breakfast,” replied the bar automatically, opening up to produce a tray with a single white plate containing some sort of oatmeal cube. Kakuzu took one look at it and grimaced.

“Enjoy your breakfast!” chirped the breakfast bar cheerily.

“Sure I will,” he retorted sarcastically, as he accepted the tray. He was regretting his decision to fly as a general passenger now. For four months, he could have dealt with the small bed in his cabin, the annoying lights and radio, and now meagre breakfast. Ninety years seemed like an excruciatingly long time.

He took his coffee and oatmeal cube out of the dining room, finding it to be too eerie to sit in alone, and began to wander through the ship, finding himself back in the Grand Concourse, where he perused through the different holograms, at the various data and information about the New Dawn company they displayed, at anything that might be helpful.

After a couple of bites from the oatmeal cube and finishing the coffee, he wandered back through the Grand Concourse, and back up to the Command Ring, where he began to open as many cupboards and storage rooms as possible, to look for information on how to go back into hibernation.

Firstly, he found a set of manuals, which looked promising, including a manual on how Zetsu and some of the other maintenance robots worked, before discovering a manual about hibernation pods. Kakuzu sighed with relief, and helped himself to it from the shelf, flipping through.

Further exploration of the ship down in the cargo hold showed that there were screws, hammers, drills, tools and equipment for building, bricks, wood, lumber, even samples of trees, plants, wildlife, even farm animals each in a different sex, perfectly preserved for their arrival at Daybreak II.

To save himself valuable time from hunting through each box of supplies, he poured over the manifests, wondering if there would be a spare hibernation pod down here, but the manifests only confirmed that what he had seen so far was all that he was going to find.

Kakuzu ignored the plants and the animals, picking up a tool kit. Whilst mechanical and engineering skills were not his forte, that wasn’t to say he wasn’t completely ignorant. Besides, he had the manual to guide him.

He carried the manual and the tool kit back into the hibernation room where he had awoken, and began to walk through the rows of people, until he found his opened pod. He knelt beside it, noticing that the light which would have displayed his name, passenger number, occupation and stats was greyed out. A brief spurt of relief made him miss a breath. By the looks of things, the hibernation pod was merely switched off, it just needed to be switched on.

Following the manual, he managed to get it switched back on, and the lights lit up, blue and glowing, just like the other pods of the still sleeping passengers. Daring to hope, Kakuzu stood up quickly, and then clamoured back inside. Would it really be that simple that all he had to do would be to lie back and go to sleep, and let the pod do the rest? He wasn’t sure if he trusted that idea, but he had to try, if not to get a clearer picture on how these things worked.

He lay back, and let the pod close back over him.

Kakuzu waited.

And waited.

He opened his eyes, and then pressed his palms against the glass panes of the hibernation pod. They remained firmly closed.

For goodness’ sake.

Kakuzu kicked at the lower part of the pod and then pressed even more forcefully against the top with both palms of his hands, hoping he wasn’t going to break the damn thing and ruin his chances to go back to sleep even more. The pod slid back open, and Kakuzu clamoured out, disappointedly.

Time to change tact.

This time, he made his way to the Infirmary. Kakuzu waited, and the doors slide open to reveal a room that was even whiter and sterile than the corridors. He sniffed, inhaling the sharp scent of disinfectant, but then glanced around. There were white cupboards built into the walls of the room, presumably full of medical supplies, but there was a table enclosed in a dome in the middle of the room.

Immediately, Kakuzu strode over to it, and peered in. He turned to the interactive screen on the side, which was black apart from a white logo that read auto diagnosis machine. Kakuzu poked the screen with his forefinger, and it flickered to life.

“Please scan your ID to use the auto diagnostics machine,” the cool female voice instructed.

Kakuzu waved his ID wristband at the screen.

“Unauthorised personnel,” the voice echoed back.

“For fuck’s sake!” roared Kakuzu, kicked one of the legs of the machine. It shook yet remained sturdily in place. He stepped back, praying he hadn’t broken it in his rage, and began to look around the room for any kind of further instruction or tools for hibernation.

But there were none, apart from various scanners that had nothing to do with hibernation and more to do with broken limbs.

A growl of frustration escaped his lips.

But if he needed a medic to use the auto diagnostics machine, then why didn’t he wake someone up?

Kakuzu jolted upright. He fetched the set of tools he used to try and fix his pod, and made his way back to the Command Ring.

“Access to the crew hibernation pod facility requires special authorisation,” announced the now-familiar female voice. Kakuzu ignored it, then reached for a hammer. He slammed the hammer against the steel door, creating an impressive bang that echoed around the ship, but not so much as a dent on the door. With that, he gave another swing of frustration, and then another. There was a dent, but it was nowhere near to allowing him any sort of access.

Kakuzu turned back to the kit. This time, he pulled out a blow torch, which he fired against one of the metal panes that made up the door. It caused a few scorch marks, but still, no access. Not even a hole.

He stared in through the tiny window at the sleeping crew. The closest to the door where he peered in was a sleeping blue-haired woman. Kakuzu squinted at the information on her pod.

CHIEF MATE KONAN  
35 YEARS  
AMEGAKURE

Beside her slept a red-haired man. Kakuzu squinted even harder to read his information.

CAPTAIN NAGATO  
35 YEARS  
AMEGAKURE

There was not a flicker of movement. His hammer and blow torch had no effect on their hibernation.

Seeing the Captain of the ship and the Chief Mate so close, yet so far, infuriated Kakuzu. He grabbed the hammer once again, and began a series of swings, one right after the other.

After almost a day of slamming the hammer against the door, he chucked the toolkit back down in frustration, and then climbed back in the lift to go back to the Grand Concourse. He sat desolately in the lift, ignoring the lapse in gravity as it lifted the spare strands of his hair that had come loose.

Once he arrived at the Grand Concourse, he stepped out, only for the doors behind him to slam, then re-open, then slam again. The blue lights flickered. Kakuzu did a double take, narrowing his eyes. That was unusual. Everything had been running smoothly until now. On the third attempt, the door successfully closed. Kakuzu shook his head and dismissed it as stupid technology. He made his way through the concourse, finding himself back at the bar he’d taken refuge in the previous day.

He ordered another whiskey, took a deep sip, before a long sigh.

“I’m fucked, Zetsu,” he sighed into his glass. “I am so fucked.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hmm...do you think Kakuzu has looked at all the options you can think of? what else do you think he can try?  
> and what do you think Zetsu will say to him?


	5. Live a Little

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kakuzu accepts a suggestion from Zetsu, and begins to adapt to life on the ship.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you for all the lovely comments on the last chapter! here is the next, I hope you will enjoy.
> 
> I am slightly concerned Kakuzu is getting a bit ooc by deciding to chill on the ship, but if i'm honest he doesn't have that many options left.
> 
> big thank you to Kitty for her help with this chapter, she talked me through some of the stuff I was worried about and was super! <3

“Come on now,” said Zetsu, as he polished yet another glass. His pale green eyes mechanically switched back from focusing on the glass, to Kakuzu, and then back to the glass. “Where there's a will, there's a way.”

“I might not die on this ship like a normal man, but ninety years until I can breathe fresh air again? Walk on solid ground? Make some money?” Kakuzu replied. The years stretched ahead of him, like an endless black tunnel. He sat upright, and stared around the bar, at the empty tables and chairs, the spotlessly clean red carpet, almost as if he was willing there to be occupants he could march down the bounty station to exchange for cash.

“Some say that money doesn’t make the world go round,” Zetsu replied, holding up a glass and inspecting the rim at the bottom.

“It makes my world go round,” replied Kakuzu, turning back to face Zetsu. The bright lights of the bar that illuminated the bottles of drinks behind Zetsu began to make his eyes ache. Kakuzu rubbed them sleepily. The events of the past few days were clearly still taking their toil on him. “Without it, I’m…”

He trailed off, trying to think of the words to describe who he was without money. He didn’t want to say nothing, worthless, or pointless.

“Well, we all die at some point,” said Zetsu, lowering the glass and wiping a towel around the rim a final time. He put it below the bar counter and pulled out another tumbler glass. He gestured to himself. “And even us androids end up on the scrap heap.”

Realising that there was no point in carrying on the conversation since Zetsu clearly didn’t understand, Kakuzu decided to ask the first question that sprung to mind and change the topic. “I’m your only customer, why are you always polishing a glass?”

“Trick of the trade,” explained Zetsu, holding up the new glass to emphasize his point to Kakuzu. He began to polish again. “It makes people nervous when a bartender just stands there. Part of my programming includes the art of looking busy.”

“Have you got any bartender wisdom for me?” asked Kakuzu. He slammed his whiskey down on the bar counter, before spitting out bitterly. “I spent years formulating the perfect plan, and now it’s all gone wrong.”

“Not all wrong, I’m sure. Maybe this is a little hiccup,” Zetsu soothed, stacking the now polished glass back under the bar.

“It’s a massive hiccup,” sighed Kakuzu, rubbing three fingers across his forehead, trying to massage away the tension. He could feel his age and frown lines that had settled over the decades. Long strands of dark hair that had come loose from his bun jostled, so Kakuzu brushed them aside impatiently.

Kakuzu was no stranger to a long life – he really wasn’t. Once he'd made the decision to prolong his life, he knew this would happen. It even pleased him, the thought that he was practically invincible, and that he could now spend the rest of eternity hoarding lives, hoarding money, taking everything for himself. Even so, he was always cautious; age and experience had taught him that. In some ways he had enjoyed his life on earth, killing and using others as they’d once used him. And in some ways, it was cathartic, soothing, even. It felt natural and right.

But the years on earth had passed quickly, from travelling, action, fighting. Now, he was going to spent ninety years in what could only be described as a ‘living stasis.’

Just what was he going to do with himself?

Zetsu glided over and looked at him sympathetically. Or rather, as sympathetically as an android could look.

“I’ve always wanted to be a gardener,” he confessed. This time his black and white hands were empty, and he laid them on the counter in front of Kakuzu. “But they programmed me to be a bartender.”

“I don’t imagine there are any gardens on the Akatsuki,” said Kakuzu. He racked his brains, and the only relatively ‘natural’ place he could think of was the cargo-hold with all the animal and plant samples. But they were sealed behind preservative glass, and the animals were in hibernation.

“No, I’m afraid not,” said Zetsu wistfully. “But never mind. I get to enjoy all the gossip that being a bartender brings. And I’m pretty sure the water and dirt wouldn’t be good for my wiring.”

“Right,” said Kakuzu.

“So you see?” asked Zetsu, holding up his white hand to emphasis his point. “Even if I could snap my fingers, and be where I wanted to be, I would still feel the same way. And I bet you would too.”

Kakuzu stared musingly into his glass, at the amber hue of the whiskey, the way the liquid rose up at the edges, touching the glass, as he debated the logistics of Zetsu’s words.

“The thing is, you can’t get so hung up on where you’d rather be and what you want to be doing, that you forget to make the most of where you are and what you could be doing,” explained Zetsu.

“What are you telling me?” asked Kakuzu, lifting his head to stare at Zetsu.

“Think of this as an impromptu opportunity,” explained Zetsu. He gave Kakuzu a wink on the black half of his face, which Kakuzu almost found slightly disturbing. “Live a little!”

“Live a little,” Kakuzu repeated. The suggestion grew on him very quickly.

* * *

Money came and went. People wanted it. People had it. People didn’t have it. Regardless of where you went, what you did, there was always money or some form of currency. It was a never-ending cycle, and one that Kakuzu could rely on. It soothed him, calmed him, gave him a purpose, an agency, a goal. One that would always be there and never leave.

But as long as he was isolated on the ship, money was a stagnant matter. There was no one to take it from, to exchange it with it, no one to earn or steal it from. He couldn’t spend what he had, as it was in cash, and there was no one to give it to. Even if he could spend his cash, there was no way that he could replenish it.

Right now, there was no way he could depend on money. Instead, if he wanted to have any sort of purpose, anything to focus on, then he could only focus on the resources at hand.

If he couldn’t _sleep_ away the ninety years until they landed, then he’d _enjoy_ them instead. On this ship, there was food, there was entertainment, a gym, a pool, educational classes, information, books, and much, much more.

And most importantly, there was _no one_. No one to bother him, make demands of him, or judge him.

Kakuzu could do whatever he liked.

How long had it been since he’d taken some time for himself, to sit and enjoy things?

How long ago had it been since he could just completely and utterly let his guard down and just…be?

As soon as he left Zetsu’s bar, he collected the tool kit from where he’d left it outside the crew’s sleeping quarters, and then made his way back down to his small cabin, where he collected his few belongings. Although delayed, the plan was still in action, but in the meantime, he wanted to sort out some more comfortable sleeping arrangements.

Kakuzu carried the tool kit, his suitcase and briefcase up a level, to the gold star cabins. He wandered along, wondering which room he would like best. Spoiled for choice, he eventually selected the room closest to the elevator that would be the most useful to getting around the ship.

The door said it belonged to Hidan, Passenger 666, but whoever Hidan was, he wouldn’t be needing it anytime soon.

He pulled out a crowbar from the tool kit, and then slotted it between the two doors. After a few tugs, he wedged open the door until it slid open automatically. Kakuzu gathered his belongings and the toolkit, stepping inside before it could re-close.

“Welcome to the Vienna Suite,” announced Pain’s voice.

As the lights beamed on, Kakuzu couldn’t resist chuckling to himself, smiling in a way he hadn’t for a while. He looked around, spotting a dining table and chairs, a sofa with plump cushions, a coffee table, private television the size of a small cinema screen, a bookshelf filled with decorative sculptures and a complimentary eBook, a window facing out to space, stairs leading up to a luxurious king size bed.

“Please scan your luggage ID to confirm delivery,” Pain appeared in a screen close by to the door. The cupboard beside him popped open, revealing two large suitcases, and a large triple-bladed scythe that was almost as tall as Kakuzu. Kakuzu raised his eyebrows at how Hidan, the Gold Star passenger, had been allowed to bring two large cases and this bizarre weapon, when he had been limited to one suitcase and his briefcase.

But then he shrugged. He didn’t care about Hidan and his stupid luggage. Maybe if he wanted some extra storage space he could toss them out the airlock. The room was his now and he was going to enjoy every last inch of it.

“Piss off, you useless hologram,” Kakuzu replied, putting his middle finger up at Pain instead of scanning his luggage ID. Pain flickered away, and the cupboard closed again.

Kakuzu dropped the hammer on the sofa, and then ran up the stairs, two at a time, to get a better look at the upstairs.

With a run, he flung himself forwards on the bed, spreading his limbs like a star fish and groaning with pleasure at the soft yet supportive mattress. The duvet felt thick and fluffy, and Kakuzu knew that it would cover his whole body comfortably. He burrowed his head inside the pillows, already fighting the urge to curl up and take a nap. He turned his head sideways, where he noticed that there was a huge screen mounted on the wall that he could change to any scene he wanted with a click from a remote provided on the nightstand.

But he hadn’t finished exploring. He climbed back up, and then looked in the en suite bathroom. There was more space to walk around, a huge bath tub that he would easily fit himself and another person in, a shower with a nozzle that he would actually fit under instead of having to stoop, a full-size mirror so that he could see himself properly, and a toilet that wasn’t practically buried under the sink.

Back in the bedroom, there was an actual wardrobe to hang up his clothes instead of folding them, rugs on the floor so that his feet stayed warm, and even complimentary dressing gowns and slippers in black silk with the New Dawn company red clouded logo embroidered on. Kakuzu kicked off his shoes and shoved his feet straight into a pair of slippers.

All this, and he hadn’t even had to pay a penny?

In the mornings, he still went and collected the flat white coffee and plain oatmeal cube from the machine. That was one thing unfortunately he couldn’t change, but for lunch and for dinner, he had the choice of dining at any restaurant he pleased. Within the Grand Concourse, nearby to Zetsu’s bar, were separate restaurants all with a different theme. All Kakuzu had to do...was take his pick.

The first night, he played it safe and went to the Japanese restaurant, where most of the food was familiar to him, and even had a few of his favourites. The second night he went to an American diner and had steak and chips, then the third night to an Italian where he enjoyed a tortellini dish and some excellent wine, each time being served by shiny white robots with mechanical voices.

Originally, he had balked at the thought of having to pay for dinner in so many fancy restaurants, but then Kakuzu realised that while alone on the ship, it would be perfectly easy to hack the computers to wipe his debts. He had years to do it, and it could all be done in his own time. And even if someone discovered him, then he'd ask for compensation for being woken up so early.

As for entertaining himself, Kakuzu slept in most mornings, luxuriating in the soft bed with the plump pillows, that was all his for free. Sometimes, he sat up, and read the books that he’d brought with him. He’d always enjoyed reading and loved collecting old rare books, the earlier the edition the better.

He’d scarcely found time to do that whilst on earth.

Now he could unwind and engross himself in the story, allow himself to be compelled by the poetry of the words, feel the thin wisps of paper between his calloused fingers. He could even sit with his nose pressed against the spine, inhaling that comforting familiar musty scent of books, for hours on end. Morning, midday, afternoon, evening, night, he could do it.

Sometimes, he checked out the gym, and easily spend an hour or two jogging on the treadmill, ensuring that he remained in good physical condition as he adjusted to a more stagnant existence than his life on earth. But he soon grew frustrated with that and ended up looking at other forms of entertainment that he hadn’t considered before.

He slammed goals in the basketball rink, one after the after, never missing. He even ventured into a dance room, allowing himself to openly laugh as he attempted to dance around like a goof, and protesting when the machine told him he’d made the move incorrectly.

In the evenings, he found himself sitting in the cinema room, where he could choose whichever movie or television series he wanted and eat as much popcorn from the dispensable machine by the door. And he duly did so, re-watching every classic, remembering years ago when it was only recently released, and every hot new release.

He even began to learn new languages, conversing with the robots in each different restaurant in Mandarin, Italian, French, and many others. It was a useful way to pass the time, especially if that meant when he was reading a new book or watching a new film he wouldn’t need to worry about relying on a translation.

He took long baths in the tub in his stolen Vienna suite, reclining back in a fortress of frothy bubbles and gurgling hot water, soaking his muscles. He lathered his hair in the much nicer shampoo and conditioner from refilling dispensers built into the wall. He spent as long as he pleased in the bath, allowing his skin to wrinkle. He’d never been a vain man, but now he had time to spend on himself. And it didn’t matter what anyone said or thought, because they weren’t there.

Kakuzu carried his books to the Observatory, and then tucked himself under the window, sitting at the ledge, so that he could read beneath the starlight. Sometimes he took a coffee from the dining hall with him, other times he sipped at wine from one of the restaurants. One evening, he sat wrapped up in one of the blankets from his bed, a coffee in hand, a book in the other, and a beautiful stretch of galaxy beside him.

Alternating between reading and then gazing out at space whenever his eyes ached, Kakuzu felt his heart swell with joy, that for the first time in a very long time, he was at peace like this, and that of all things, away from the eyes of Takigakure, any potential old foes, any new ones…he was safe.

But soon, it began to tire him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you for reading!


	6. The Other Passengers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After deciding to chill on the starship, Kakuzu realises that he's getting bored. But the discovery of the other passengers and who they could be soon begins to fascinate him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> poor Kuzu, I feel so bad putting him in this situation! i struggled writing him again in this chapter bc he gets emotional about being alone and starts thinking of suicide, which usually is really out of character for a greedy old git like Kakuzu, so if anyone can let me know if i'm on the right track writing him, that would be great XD
> 
> plus a lot of you have been asking for Hidan...will he show up yet, do you think?

Kakuzu wasn’t even sure why he was bored. He was keeping himself busy, he had everything he could have asked for and more; for the first time in his life, he wanted for nothing.

The only thing missing were people. Kakuzu was pretty sure that he hated people; he’d even killed people just for annoying him. Generally, he only associated with others out of necessity or because they could serve as another means of earning money, like Zangei who ran the old bounty station where he usually dropped off the bodies of the people he’d killed.

He would never drop bodies off at Zangei’s again.

Or ever speak to him again.

His isolation with only Zetsu and the serving robots began to remind him horribly of his former incarceration. Long, dark endless nights that stretched into one, crammed inside a small, cramped prison cell, with no one to talk to apart from when they came to dump those inexcusable lumps of mush they considered food for him in the cell. Even the oatmeal cube from the dining room was better than that, though the lack of choice and variety was starting to remind horribly of the meals during that time.

At least on the Akatsuki, he could walk through the ship and entertain himself as he so pleased, but his patience was wearing thin, he could quote all the movies and television shows he’d watched and re-watched, even after resorting to watching The Bee Movie, he’d eaten in every restaurant he could think of, tried every cocktail that Zetsu could make, and grown bored of Zetsu’s generic chatter.

He tried to focus his energy on educating himself on new and interesting matters, reading and studying about different economies, focusing on colonial economies in particular. But then that only served to remind him of how long it would be until he arrived at Daybreak II and could put his plan into practise.

Then he switched his attention to perfecting his knowledge of inflation and how the value of money increased over time, but then that made him shudder at the thought of the next one hundred and twenty years of hibernation on the returning flight, and unsurprisingly, the thought of going back to sleep and the possibility of being woken too early again was very unappealing.

After learning everything he could and feeling as though he was as prepared as any man with a business plan could be, one evening Kakuzu took to wandering back through the halls of hibernation pods. He was dressed in a pair of plain brown trousers and a drab grey sweater, his hair falling over his shoulders unbrushed, since again, there was no one there to bother him about his appearance.

He looked enviously at the sleeping passengers, blissfully unaware of the years that passed them by. They would arrive at the new planet without any of the memory of being alone like this.

_This is so fucking pathetic._

He wandered along, even passing his empty pod. He stared at it for a long time, before he realised he couldn’t bear to look at it anymore. He wandered further along the hibernation bay, until he encountered a door at the edge of the room that he hadn’t encountered before. The doors slide open.

“Welcome to Space Walk, Kakuzu,” the cool female voice announced. Kakuzu stared around at the room morosely, realising that the amenities of the ship no longer delighted him on a new discovery. He didn't care what was in here in this room, only that he would follow along with the instructions just for something to do. Something other than what he'd already done. Anything. “Please listen closely to the safely instructions on the screen. These space suits are designed to withstand the harsh environment of space.”

The voice faded out of his perception, as Kakuzu found himself drawn to the first space suit displayed upright before him. In a bizarre longing manner, he wanted nothing more than to touch it. It wasn’t a person, but it was as good as he was going to get.

He wandered closer and closer, and then reached out to touch the empty shell. His calloused fingertips trailed along the cool metal. No, it was nothing like a warm, beating body, nothing on this ship would be. Even whilst he was in combat or collecting a bounty, Kakuzu experienced more physical human contact than he did on this ship. Even if it was just for a second, as he ripped their hearts free, heard their last gasping breath against his cheek, felt their blood gush over his fingers, and then the threads of his body reaching out and tying their hearts inside of his chest.

He leant his head against the shoulder of the suit, feeling the cool metal contrast against his warm forehead.

How had it come to this?

Kakuzu thought back, way back, to his early childhood, before there were starships and colonised planets, recalling the few happy memories that had survived intact throughout the years. How could he have ever known the path his life would take? How did he go from that innocent young boy to the old, bitter man he was now? A man who was so lonely and greedy that he'd boarded a starship for more cash, and now that his plans had been scuppered, he had resorted to cuddling a space suit that was as empty as he was?

His fingers laced with those of the suit. He didn’t dare to imagine a person who it could be, because there was no one. No one in his life who he missed and could pretend who it was. No friends, no family, no wife, no kids.

“Remember, your space suit is your lifeline,” explained the voice.

Kakuzu released the suit, and then pressed the button so he could climb inside and wear it. The suit turned, and then split down the sides so he stepped in. He put on the heavy space walking boots, lifted the domed helmet and then turned to a tunnel, leading out to the exterior of the ship. Slowly, he trudged down the tunnel, and then waited at the edge by the door.

“Slide the handle on the right to release the air pressure,” instructed the voice.

Kakuzu followed the instructions.

“Your magnetic boots are now engaged. They can be deactivated using the control panel on your arm. Press the red button to open the air lock door.”

Kakuzu pressed it, and the final door slotted open.

“Have a wonderful time!” exclaimed the voice.

Kakuzu felt the air rush past him, and then took a cautious step, then another, before finding himself standing outside on one of the helix wings of the spiralling ship.

“Tether attached,” said the voice, as he felt the tether clip onto his space suit.

His breathing amplified inside the suit, and his hearts beat louder. Not faster, just louder. The suit was heavy, but in his good physical condition, it was nothing that he couldn’t handle. He took another step, and then stepped completely out of the tunnel. The door shut behind him, and then he was truly alone out in space.

Kakuzu stepped out to the very edge of the wing, and directly stared into the raw void of space. Black skies stretched on endlessly in every direction around as he tilted his head back to look, nebula clustered together containing dimly glowing stars in galaxies far away blinked back at him.

It was so…big. It made him feel small. Small and insignificant. Suddenly all his problems and everything in his life, everything that he’d said and done, everything that had ever happened to him, just seemed so unimportant and worthless, as he gazed out at the whole universe. Because what was the life of one man compared to the eternal stretch of everything?

Deciding that he really wanted to know what it felt like to be floating in space, Kakuzu reached for the control panel on his arm. He pressed the button, then jumped free of the ship’s wing. His tether kept him safely attached to the ship, and the ship’s spiralling movement provided him with movement as he trod through the air.

Strangely, he found it beautiful. Beautiful and sad. There was so much there and yet absolutely nothing at all. He felt a long ache in his chest where his five hearts were beating. He was the only living, conscious thing for several light years on end.

How strange that he’d had to be isolated like this to truly feel like a person again.

Gazing at the reflection of his face in the suit, and lifting one gloved hand up in front of him, Kakuzu felt his eyes grow moist. Giving into it, since there was no one to say anything about it, he allowed the tears to fall. They slipped out of his green and red eyes, then collected in little droplets, floating away from his face without the gravity.

He wasn’t sure how long he’d allowed himself to drift in space, before the ship pulled him back in for more oxygen. Kakuzu allowed it to guide him, and then reengaged his magnetic boots, walking the rest of the way with a desolate tread in his steps.

“Welcome back, Kakuzu,” said the voice.

He unsuited himself, finding himself back in his plain trousers and drab sweater.

“We hope you decide to join us again for another thrilling experience!” the voice instructed.

Thrilling was not the word he'd use to describe his space walk. Maybe humbling, or isolating, or...Kakuzu didn't even know what to think anymore.

He turned back to look at the door. For once crazy second, he thought of how easy it would be, now that he was unguarded by the suit, to slam the lever back down, let it suck him back out into space and destroy his body. Even with his hearts, even with the earth grudge fear, he really would die, as the vacuum cut off the oxygen supply to all his hearts and they all failed together at the same time.

He was old, there was no denying that. He’d lived a life in terms of years. Maybe it really was time to let go instead of carrying out this plan and end this long, boring, isolated existence.

No.

No. No. _N_ _o_.

He wouldn’t do that.

He wanted to be a person again.

He wanted to live.

He wanted a life.

And he was going to get to Daybreak II, and finish his mission.

_I will not die. I refuse to die. I do not deserve to die. I will have the life I want._

Kakuzu turned, and then stormed back through the hibernation pod hall, his resolution a fiery one. As he stormed, he glanced in at all the sleeping passengers. As he stared, almost instantly, he began to wonder if there was any way to find out who these people were. Maybe he could get to know a bit about them and prepare for living amongst them since the company of others was what he seemed to be craving so badly. Maybe that would make the years go faster.

He walked as far away from the Space Walk room until he felt comfortable again, and then glanced in the first pod he saw.

A young man, much younger than Kakuzu, slept. He had very fair, almost translucent white skin, long raven black hair that was tied back in a ponytail with a few strands falling loose to frame his face, a slender built body, and prominent tear troughs beneath his closed eyes. Kakuzu gazed in curiously, and then at the passenger information on the side of his pod.

UCHIHA, ITACHI  
KONAHAGAKURE  
21 YEARS

Kakuzu gazed at the young man for a while, wondering what he was like. Even in his sleep, it seemed like he had a very serious expression, and would be a very sombre person. Kakuzu turned to the next pod beside him. This man looked even younger, he was barely more than a boy, and had the same fair skin, dark hair and serious expression as the first man. They had to be related. Kakuzu glanced at his passenger information on the side of his pod.

UCHIHA, SASUKE  
KONAHAGAKURE  
16 YEARS

“Brothers…” he murmured to himself. It seemed that they were travelling together, as a family, to make a new life by each other’s side. He felt a strange swelling sensation in his chest, and realised that he was glad. He was _glad_ they had each other. That when they woke up in ninety years time they would already have someone who cared about them. That was more than Kakuzu had.

Further down the hallway, he glanced in at a very tall man, who was taller than Kakuzu himself, who barely fit into his pod. He had a fierce, shark-like appearance, with blue skin and gills under his eyes, and gills on his shoulders, and dark blue hair shaped in one spike, like a dorsal fin. His body was stacked, muscular, and in a fight, he looked like he was strong enough to give even Kakuzu a hard time.

HOSHIGAKI, KISAME  
KIRIGAKURE  
32 YEARS

A few rows later, he spotted a red-haired boy with dainty doll-like facial features. He looked like he was still within his mid-teens, but to his surprise, Kakuzu discovered that the boy was an adult man.

AKASUNA, SASORI  
SUNAGAKURE  
35 YEARS

On the other side of the row, he spotted a sleeping girl, with long blonde hair, half tied up in a ponytail and with long side-bangs, one covering her right eye. Kakuzu peered in at her, before glancing down at the information on the side of the pod.

‘She’ was actually a he.

DEIDARA  
IWAGAKURE  
19 YEARS

Kakuzu finally reached his old pod, and walked past it, before his eyes fell on a person who’d been sleeping just a few rows away from him. If they’d both, for any reason, sat up in their pods and looked around the room, they would have been the first person they laid their eyes on.

The man was fair-skinned, like Itachi, but with a slightly pinker flushed tint to his skin. They would have been the same height, but Itachi had a slenderer, lithe build compared to this man. His hair was an unusual silvery-grey, combed back smartly, framing a handsome well-proportioned face. His hibernation clothes clung to his well-muscled figure, and around his neck, dangled a silver necklace with an unusual pendent of an inverted triangle enclosed inside a circle. As the starlight slipped in through the windows, he practically glowed like an ethereal holy figure.

He simply looked so…peaceful, sleeping away the years in stasis.

HIDAN  
YUGAKURE  
22 YEARS

Kakuzu stared at Hidan the longest, feeling slightly more intrigued by him than the others. As his eyes bored into Hidan’s features, he noticed Hidan’s pale eyelashes, and how he’d never seen lashes so white. He glanced back down at Hidan’s passenger information on the side of his pod, wondering why Hidan’s name seemed so familiar to him.

Eventually, Kakuzu turned away, heading back into the heart of the ship, to one of the computer rooms that he'd discovered several months ago.

Kakuzu perched down at one of the desks, and began to search through the files on the computer. He cursed, as he struggled to identify the various icons and what they meant. Why did an 'e' represent the internet when 'internet' began with an 'i', anyway?

After searching through the documents, he found a folder containing the passenger video profiles, and remembered the creation of his own profile while sitting down with the interviewer to discuss why he would be joining the ship Akatsuki. Kakuzu decided not to watch it, having always disliked having his photograph taken.

He flicked through each video, spotting the long blond-haired boy who looked like a girl, the fierce shark-like man, and then finally Hidan.

Kakuzu moved the curser of the computer, and clicked play.

There was a moment as a chair scrapped, and Hidan settled into position and looked at the camera.

“My name is Hidan and I am passenger 666,” Hidan began the profile by introducing himself. “I’m twenty-two years old, I was born in Yugakure but I left several years ago because it was shit. Now, I know that I may not look it, but I’m very religious.”

Kakuzu gave a snort of laughter at the screen, at the handsome man with the distinctive magenta eyes and silvery hair, wearing a black leather jacket with a grey fur collar around the hood. He was shirtless, apart from the silver necklace that Kakuzu had spotted him wearing in the pod. The guy looked like he ought to be part of a rock band, not a religious man at all.

Onscreen, Hidan lifted up the pendent around his neck to display more clearly to the camera. “I’m a priest of a religion called Jashinism, where I worship a god called Jashin. Some famous fucker, a philosopher or a researcher or some shit like that-”

“Please do not swear on passenger profile records,” said a voice behind the camera. It sounded very similar to the interactive voice of the ship.

“Sorry man-”

“I am not a man,” the female voice repeated.

“Sorry woman, some famous guy once said that all societies and cultures have two things in common. Art, and religion. As passengers abroad the Akatsuki, we are building a whole new culture of our own. And as a priest, my mission is spread the Way of Jashin. And if all cultures need a religion, then...” Hidan trailed off, shrugged on the screen, and then grinned demonically at the camera. “Here I am.”

“Idiot,” Kakuzu scoffed, and shook his head.

He downloaded the passenger profiles onto a tablet device he found in the computer room and claimed for his own, and then strode off to have dinner.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> well, what do you think Kakuzu is going to do now that he's "met" Hidan?
> 
> comment below and let me know!


	7. Hidan

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kakuzu spends some time researching the other passengers. He doesn't like Hidan.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> that last chapter was intense, right? now Kakuzu decides to spend some time researching the other passengers and encounters more of Hidan's personality.

“Look at these people, Zetsu,” said Kakuzu, as he sat mulling over whiskey in the bar several evenings later, watching the passenger profiles for the hundredth time. The tablet sat propped up on the bar where he could watch it as he drank. “Look at all these people, coming to change their lives.”

“You seem very taken with your fellow passengers,” noted Zetsu, his head glancing down at the tablet on the worktop of his bar.

“It’s strange,” admitted Kakuzu. He found he didn’t mind speaking to Zetsu about his most innermost thoughts, since Zetsu was an android and pretty much couldn’t feel or understand anything. As far as Kakuzu was concerned, Zetsu couldn’t, and wouldn’t, judge him for anything. “I thought I hated people. They just annoyed me. Whenever I had to deal with them, I just saw them as pawns to profit from, since that was how they’d once viewed me. And now I’m alone, I realise…”

“What do you realise?” asked Zetsu, lifting a glass and a towel.

“I miss people,” confessed Kakuzu, swirling the whiskey around his glass. As he finally admitted it out loud, his shoulders slouched, and he sagged against the counter. That weakness, that innate human weakness and desire for companionship, had gotten the better of him. _Of him_.

Kakuzu could scarcely believe it. This enforced solitude, these ninety years that he’d been given by a stupid error in a stupid machine, had changed him, were changing him, and the remaining eighty-nine would likely change him still. It almost felt like he was…remembering to feel like a man again. To need and want things that couldn’t be gained or collected or hoarded.

Kakuzu didn’t know whether or not that was a good thing.

“Well, we’ve got each other,” replied Zetsu, as he began to polish the glass for what must have been the millionth time.

Kakuzu nearly slammed his head on the bar counter.

“Yes, but you’re an android. You’re not a person. You can’t think, you’re programmed to reply to me. You say the things you think I want to hear. You can’t feel,” Kakuzu grunted. He reached forwards and picked up a fork from behind the bar for stirring drinks with. Then, he gave Zetsu a hard prod with it. “See? I’m poking you and there’s nothing you can do about it because you don’t care because you can’t feel it.”

“You can at least be careful of my wiring,” warned Zetsu, placing the glass tumbler back down on the counter and then swivelling away from Kakuzu.

Kakuzu gave a snort. “Of course.”

He put down the fork on the counter, lifted his whiskey once again and took another sip. Then he picked the tablet back up, flicked through the profiles, finally landing on Sasori’s profile.

“True art is eternal,” said Sasori in a dreamy voice. His grey-brown eyes were half-closed; they were like that throughout the whole video. Kakuzu supposed that was just his natural bored expression. “A thing of beauty that lasts through the ages without ever decaying. Sleeping for one hundred and twenty years without changing, in perfect condition, that really appeals to my aesthetic. I’m very curious as to what the other passengers aboard the Akatsuki are like. I wonder if they like art. When I get to Daybreak II, I hope that there’s a sense of art that I might be able to find there.”

“So you’re hoping that your voyage will inspire you?” asked the interviewer. Kakuzu couldn’t help but recognise that the voice interviewing Sasori sounded very similar to the voice interviewing Hidan, and thus the interactive voice that played around the ship.

“Yes, I suppose I am,” replied Sasori, with a nod. “More than my life on earth currently does.”

“Is there anything in Sunagakure that you will miss?” asked the voice.

“Not at all,” replied Sasori, with no hesitation and a cold deadpan tone to his usually dreamy voice. Kakuzu suddenly felt a sting of déjà vu, recalling that in his passenger profile he answered the question of whether or not he would miss Takigakure very similarly.

“I like him,” said Kakuzu, gesturing for Zetsu to look at Sasori’s image on the screen he held up. “We’d be friends.”

He flicked through the profiles again, before landing on Deidara’s profile. His finger tapped ‘play’ and Deidara beamed at the camera, delightedly.

“I’m Deidara, I’m nineteen years old, I’m passenger 1243 and I’m an artist,” Deidara began. He wore a crop top and his long hair cascaded over his shoulders, practically reaching his waist. There was a smear of clay on his cheek, and his hands lay folded in front of him on the table. Kakuzu noticed a few flecks of clay on his bare arms, some spattered across his shirt, and even a small streak across his cheek. When he lifted his hands animatedly as he spoke, Kakuzu could also see the clay stuck under his nails. “I’ve been sculpting since I was a kid, and I love making things go bang! Hm! True art is the fleeting moment before it disappears. That’s fine art!”

“What made you decide to join the Akatsuki, Deidara?” asked the cool female voice.

“Originally, I didn’t want to,” admitted Deidara. His light blue eyes darted around the room warily, as if he was suspicious that there was someone else in the room. “I didn’t like the idea of being alive but not alive in one of those pod thingies, yeah. And the thought of being like that for one hundred and twenty years was weird. But I…I…er…”

“What happened?” repeated the voice.

“Lost a fight with an Uchiha bitch called Itachi,” Deidara’s shoulders slumped. He looked embarrassed, and like he wanted to reach forwards and smash the camera in two. “My art…my art was…I need to reach new exciting heights with my art, and I couldn’t do that on earth anymore. I want to find new clay, I want to experiment with different colours, yeah! And I want to be the best artist in the world! On Daybreak II, there won’t be so many artists, I’ll be one of the first ones! So I’ll be the best! And everyone will know who I am and remember my name! Hm! Oh, and Itachi won’t be there either, he’ll be dead and buried on Earth! I’ll be making art, and he’ll be dead, yeah!”

Kakuzu choked with laughter, knowing very well that Deidara was going to have a nasty surprise once he woke up from hibernation.

“Is there anything you’ll miss about Iwagakure?”

“Dropping bombs on it?” offered Deidara. “It’s such an un-artist place.”

“Do you hope that Daybreak II will offer you opportunities to build somewhere…more artistic?”

“Oh, sure!” Deidara beamed. “I’ll have everyone cowering in awe at my firework displays, everyone will come to see my shows, and it’ll be great, yeah!”

Kakuzu glanced up to face Zetsu.

“I can’t wait until he and Sasori meet,” he couldn’t resist remarking.

Zetsu nodded, cordially.

After finishing Deidara’s profile, he found himself landing on Hidan’s profile again. There was something about the younger man that Kakuzu simply couldn’t stop thinking about. Something that almost…compelled him to Hidan. Kakuzu studied the first frozen image of Hidan once the profile opened. It couldn't be his looks, Kakuzu wasn't interested in that, or so he told himself.

Having watched the first part of Hidan’s profile, he fast-forwarded to later in the video to where Hidan was asked if he would miss his home village.

“Nah, I’m not going to fucking miss Yugakure at all-” declared Hidan.

“Hidan,” warned the voice behind the camera.

Hidan shrugged at the warning. “But man, am I going to miss the hot springs! Nothing like a good old soak after a day of sacrifices! They do have hot springs on Daybreak II, don’t they? Otherwise you fuckers will have to turn the whole fucking ship back round and come back to earth so I can get scrubbed up!”

Kakuzu paused the video, and shook his head. “I can’t believe they let this riff-raff on the ship. I hope he doesn’t wake up. The worst thing in the world would be to get stuck on this ship or Daybreak II with him.”

“Strong words,” noted Zetsu.

“Well, it’s true,” Kakuzu shook his head. “Think about it. Of all the talented, clever people in the world who really could have made a difference in the new planet, they picked this guy.”

He gave a forceful gesture at the paused image of Hidan onscreen grinning like a maniac.

"Isn't that the whole purpose of these colony planets?" asked Kakuzu. "To choose the best and the brightest to migrate to a new world and build a better society?"

Kakuzu knew that he himself couldn't be considered 'the best' in any society, given his former occupation, but he'd known the exact right things to say in his interview to get them to accept him as a passenger. And it had worked.

Zetsu blinked. Strangely, the white side of his face blinked first, and then the black side, almost as if his body was out of sync with itself. The pale green eye on the black side of his face seemed to glow, expanding in size, almost maliciously. Kakuzu blinked, stared at Zetsu, trying to figure out what looked different, but then Zetsu looked as normal ever. Kakuzu narrowed his eyes, studying the android. But Zetsu returned to work, lifting up another tumbler, polishing it meticulously, before reach for another.

Kakuzu shook his head, thinking nothing of it, presuming that it was down to technology simply being technology.

He picked up his glass of whiskey and downed the last of his drink. He slammed the empty tumbler back down on the bar counter.

“Well, I’m going to head to bed. Tomorrow morning, I’m going to get back in the gym. I realised I hadn’t worked on my taijutsu in a while,” he announced.

“Goodnight, Kakuzu,” said Zetsu.

Kakuzu picked up the tablet off the counter, wandered out of the bar, back through the empty Grand Concourse as the signs blared and the holograms flickered, and into the lift. He paid little attention to them as he walked past, their novelty if they’d ever held any for Kakuzu had worn off long ago. He yawned sleepily as he sat down in the lift, ignoring the lapse in gravity that had grown so familiar, before climbing out once he’d reached his floor. He made his way back into the stolen Vienna Suite, and put the tablet down on the dining table.

Just as he turned to climb up the stairs, the lights in the cabin shut out.

Kakuzu froze still, blinking in the darkness. Before he could react any further, the female voice announced. “Please be patient. Your cabin rebooting.”

The lights slowly plinked back on, one by one, and everything remained as it should be. The luxury suite was silent and still, as it always was. Kakuzu had little cause for any further concern, and so he made his way back up the stairs, stripped off his clothes down to his underwear, before crawling under the covers.

He pressed the button on the remote, and the lights flicked off in the cabin. Kakuzu burrowed further under the covers, before stretching out on his stomach in his favourite sleeping position, with his head resting sideways on his favourite pillow. His red and green eyes gazed through the darkness, slowly closing, and very soon, sleep rose from the depths and claimed him.

* * *

Down in the hibernation bay, a pod lit up.

Three injections punctured the muscular bicep of the occupant. Small mechanical arms descended from the top of the pod, delivering an electric shock to the occupant’s chest and jolting their heart back into action. The occupant took a deep breath, the first in thirty-one years, and then another, and another.

Pale eyelashes fluttered, before opening to reveal magenta eyes.

“Good morning, Hidan. How are you feeling?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> as i mentioned on tumblr and my other fic, i am taking a short mini-break from updating my chaptered fics for a while as i am participating in a couple of events and want to spend some time working on the oneshots!  
> thank you all for reading and for your support.


	8. First Meeting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hidan wakes up from hibernation, and meets his fellow passenger.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey guys! I took a mini-break from this fic to participate in some other kakuhida-related events, and deal with some real life stuff, but now that the events are over, and my works in progress list has decreased, I can come back to it and give this fic the love it deserves! thank you very much for being patient.
> 
> well, now that Hidan has woken up, how do you think he and Kakuzu will like each other? Or not, as the case may be?

Hidan took several deep breaths, before his eyes focused on the hologram in front of him. He blinked at the unusual piercings and the spiky bright orange hair. He did a double take, trying to lurch away, but then realised that he couldn’t yet move, as something was holding him in place in whatever the small enclosure he was lying in was. Hidan began to breathe heavily and his heart beat rapidly, and his dry mouth felt sick. As soon as he was able, he flung his hand up to his neck, frantically clutching at the silver chain and pendent.

Touching his rosary made him feel much better. Hidan calmed, and then listened to what the hologram was still saying.

“It’s perfectly normal to feel confused,” the hologram explained in a deep voice. “You’ve just spent one hundred and twenty years in hibernation abroad the starship Akatsuki. My name is Pain, and I’ll be your introduction to the wonders of the Akatsuki.”

Hidan felt the bed that he was lying on lift out of the pod, and then wheel him over to a compartment, that bathed him in blue lights. Hologram banners lit up displaying his vital statistics. Hidan’s eyes flickered over them uninterestedly.

“We’ve nearly completed the voyage from earth to your new home, the colony world of Daybreak II,” said Pain. “A new world, a fresh start, room to grow.”

“Fucking yes…” Hidan murmured to himself.

“There are four months until the Akatsuki arrives. For the durations of the rest of your voyage, you’ll enjoy space travel in its most luxurious form,” explained Pain. “The ID band on your wrist is your key to the wonders of the Akatsuki.”

Pain held up his wrist to demonstrate. Hidan glanced down at his, to see a silver band encircled around his wrist. It shone in the dim light, like his rosary.

“You’re in perfect health, Hidan. Let’s get you to your cabin so you can get some rest,” Pain announced.

Hidan clamoured out of the bed with an inelegance that was unbecoming of a shinobi, then stood up, fighting to maintain his balance.

“On your left, please find a pair of complimentary pyjamas and slippers to wear whilst you walk to your cabin,” Pain carried on.

Hidan looked to his left, to find a pair of black slippers with the Akatsuki logo on, as well as a pair of black pyjamas embroidered with red tiling. He picked them up and pulled them on over his hibernation clothes, before leaning down to put on the slippers.

He turned back to Pain.

“You’re a gold star passenger, Hidan, and your suite will be this way,” said Pain. Hidan followed the trail that lit up for him. He rubbed his forehead, and then felt little wisps of hair falling forward. That was no good. As soon as he had rested he was getting some hair gel and sorting that out.

“Here is your room, Hidan,” said Pain. “Please scan your ID wristband to gain access.”

Hidan lifted his wrist and scanned it. The doors opened.

“Vienna Suite,” said the voice of the ship.

Hidan wandered in, glancing around. The lights were dimmed, and he could make out little of the scenery.

“Welcome to your Vienna Suite, Hidan,” said Pain, appearing in a screen by the front door, and adding some light to the hallway that Hidan found himself standing in. “Your home before we make landfall. Over the next four months, you’ll prepare for your new life on Daybreak II, meet your fellow passengers, take skill building classes, and learn about colonial living. You’ve been assigned to learning group 6, for passengers with combat skills. Please scan your ID to confirm luggage delivery.”

A cupboard door opened, and Hidan spotted the two suitcases he had been allowed to bring with him. He reached out and scanned his ID against the door of the cupboard.

“Be sure to drink plenty of fluids while you recover from hibernation,” said Pain. Hidan turned, to see a jug filling with water beside a small kitchenette part. He poured himself a glass from the jug, and then took a deep sip, feeling the nauseas subside.

“Enjoy the rest of your voyage on the Akatsuki, a New Dawn company starship,” said Pain, before flickering away.

Hidan was left alone in the dark. He reached out and flicked on the light, then glanced around at the room. There was no doubt that this was the large, luxurious suite he had paid for…there was a dining table and chairs, a sofa, a large television mounted to the wall, stairs leading up to the bedroom and bathroom…but there was a computer tablet lying on the table, the cushions on the sofa had been adjusted for someone to lounge against, rather than the generic spread across the sofa like in a hotel room, and there was a dent in the fabric of the sofa where someone had obviously been sitting.

Hidan frowned to himself. The cleaners weren’t going a very good job. Still, he was tired, and he hadn’t seen what his bedroom looked like yet.

Hidan climbed up the stairs wearily, finding that even upstairs, it was also dark.

Why was it dark? Why wouldn’t the lights automatically come on? The first thing Hidan would do in the morning would be to report this to maintenance.

At the top of the stairs, Hidan stopped and stared at the king-sized bed.

There was a sizeable lump beneath the duvet covers.

Someone was in his bed.

_Why the fuck was there someone in his bed?!_

Briefly, Hidan debated if he was even in the right room. The room was definitely his, he’d scanned his own ID, and been greeted by his name. The room was his. This person was an intruder.

Hidan patted the pockets of his pyjamas. He was unarmed, his weapons were still packed away in his luggage, back in the luggage compartment by the door. But if he went down there now and started moving about to fetch them then he’d risk waking the intruder. If he wanted an element of surprise, he’d need to strike now. He would have to rely on his taijutsu, and then find a makeshift weapon.

Hidan approached the bed slowly, observing the person’s body. Whoever it was, they were likely to be taller and more muscled than he was.

He reached out, and grabbed a corner of the blanket, before tugging it off.

Immediately the occupant sprang upright. Barely taking their physical appearance in, Hidan flung a punch straight to their jaw, but with his nausea and fatigue, missed and the punch sailed past their ear. Hidan felt himself stumble onto the mattress, rolling sideways from the bounce of the springs, knocking a jug of water and glass from the bedside table. Immediately he jumped upright again, and grabbed the largest shard of broken glass as a weapon.

But now his opponent was standing upright on the opposite side of the bed. And they were big. Bigger than Hidan. Hidan flung himself across the room and struck again, before they could get ready for him.

He felt the shard sink into a muscled chest, and the figure staggered. Hidan stepped back, assessing the situation and the damage he’d inflicted. He’d aimed it at the chest, just slightly to the left, directly at where the heart. They were as good as dead. The person sank forwards, resting their hand on the bed, and let out a low grunt of pain. They stayed doubled over for a few moments, before standing back up, pulling the bloodied shard out of their chest and flinging it out onto the mattress.

“Stop!” commanded the person.

“Why are you in my fucking bed?!” yelled Hidan, reaching down for another shard of glass. Maybe he hadn’t sunk the glass in as deeply as he thought. “Get your own!”

“Stop!” the person commanded again, as Hidan lunged yet again. This time, the man’s hand detached itself from the wrist by hundreds of thick ropey threads, sailed across the room, catching Hidan’s wrist in a firm heavy grip. Hidan struggled against it, fighting to free himself, but the opponent’s strength either equalled or surpassed his own.

Even as they struggled, the man stared at Hidan, almost with a sense of disbelief. If Hidan wasn’t mistaken, it was almost as if he’d never seen another person before…

“Give me one good reason not to,” Hidan pointed the shard at the man’s bare chest, even as his hand was held in place, staring back at the man. Now that Hidan’s eyes had adjusted to the dark, there was no doubt about it. The man certainly had a strange appearance. His hair was long and dark and fell over his shoulders, and his tanned skin was criss-crossed with stitches, running over his shoulders and arms, his chest, his belly, even down his legs. Two stitches met either side of his mouth, and the man’s eyes were a deep green, edged with red.

“Why are you awake?” asked the man.

“Why am I awake?” Hidan scoffed. “Because we’re meant to wake up, dumbass!”

The man shook his head. “No, that’s not right.”

“What? What the fuck do you mean, it’s not right?” demanded Hidan.

The man took a deep sigh. “Put the glass shard down and I’ll show you.”

“Show me?” Hidan repeated. “Show me what?”

The man released his wrist, and Hidan let his arm fall, lowering the shard of glass. He watched as the man retracted the hand back to his arm, and then picked up a pair of tracksuit trousers and a shirt that had been left on the floor. Hidan watched the man dress, pulling them over the pair of boxer shorts he’d worn to sleep in, but did not drop the shard of glass.

“Who are you?” demanded Hidan.

“Kakuzu,” grunted the man.

“I’m Hidan,” said Hidan.

“Come,” said Kakuzu, beckoning to Hidan to follow. Hidan finally lowered the shard of glass and placed it back on the floor.

His head still pounding, Hidan followed Kakuzu down the stairs, and through the ship. The white interior of the ship seemed to make everything blur and look the same, and Hidan lost track of how far they’d walked and where they were until Hidan found himself standing an auditorium-like room.

“Welcome to the observatory,” announced a deep voice. “What can I show you?”

“Show me Daybreak II,” Kakuzu commanded.

Daybreak II illuminated in the air. Hidan’s head turned to towards it, and he looked at the projection of the planet hopefully.

“Show me where we are,” Kakuzu commanded again. A model of the _Akatsuki_ lit up, with earth behind it, and the dotted line to Daybreak II showing the route of the ship. “When will we arrive?”

“We will arrive in approximately eighty-nine years,” replied the voice.

Hidan could hardly believe his ears.

“Eighty-nine years?” he repeated. His expression changed from tired and blank to a mixture of horrified and confused.

“The other passengers aren’t late waking up,” explained Kakuzu, turning to face Hidan properly. “We were early.”

Hidan glanced away from the projections, away from Kakuzu, disbelief flickering over his dull tired eyes.

“We need to get help,” he finally spoke. “Where’s the crew?”

Kakuzu led him further along the corridors, then showed him a round door with a small window pane in. Hidan barely glanced at the scorch marks and dents in the door, before looking in through the small glass pane at the hibernation pods of the crew.

“The crew is in this secure hibernation room. They’re all still asleep,” Kakuzu explained. “Everything important, the crew, the controls of the ship, the engines, its all behind metal bolted doors. There’s no way through.”

Hidan stepped away from the window to the crew’s hibernation room, and looked again at the door, seeing the scorch marks and dents that Kakuzu had left from when he had tried to break in. Hidan studied it all properly, before releasing a croak. “How long have you been awake?”

“About a year now,” replied Kakuzu.

The reality of the situation finally dawned on Hidan. His magenta eyes fell with horror, and he shook his head in disbelief.

“No…” he whimpered, as his lower lip began to wobble. He pressed his hands either side of his head and released a bloodcurdling screech. 

* * *

Kakuzu winced, unused to the fierce emotion and the general sound of the human voice. Hidan screamed and screamed, rocking back and forth, before collapsing on the floor, shaking and whimpering.

“Hidan,” Kakuzu took a step towards him, realising that he needed to _do something_. But what, he was still unaware.

“No! No! No, Jashin, no!” Hidan howled. “This is not funny!”

“Hidan!” Kakuzu raised his voice, one outstretched hand reaching for Hidan’s shoulder.

“We have to get back in our pods!” Hidan shrieked, scrambling upright. And with that, he turned on his heel and fled back down the hallway.

“Hidan, we can’t!” Kakuzu shouted after him, but it was too late. Hidan broke out into a fully-fledged sprint down the corridor. Kakuzu looked around, wondering what on earth to do, before deciding he needed to stop Hidan before he did something drastic. He broke into a sprint, speeding up rapidly to try and reach him, but Hidan had already set quite the pace. He flexed the muscles of his mouth, realising that talking felt strange and weird, almost as if his mouth was gummed up with cotton. “Hidan!”

Hidan ran back down into the hibernation bay, and stopped, doubling over. Kakuzu took the opportunity to close several metres between him, and he grew closer, noticed that sweat gleamed on Hidan’s forehead, his neck, and the little white triangle of skin that showed beneath his pyjamas.

“We have to go back to sleep,” Hidan cried, panting from the effort of the run and the effect of the hibernation sickness. Once Kakuzu re-joined him, he took off again, glancing from side to side as he ran. Kakuzu inwardly groaned, then began to run after again, as Hidan raved at the mouth. “We just have to start up our pods again.”

Hidan stopped barely halfway into the rows of pods, glancing frantically in several different directions.

“I can’t find my pod!” he cried. His head jerked from side to side, his eyes roving in all different directions. “I can’t find my pod, I can’t find my pod!”

“It doesn’t matter!” Kakuzu growled, eventually reaching him.

“I can’t fucking find it!” Hidan yelled.

“Hidan, stop it!” Kakuzu shouted, already growing tired of having to deal with Hidan’s distress. His throat hurt from speaking, his tongue felt swollen and weird, and his lips were numb.

“I can’t find which one is fucking mine!” Hidan yelled.

“It doesn’t matter!” Kakuzu grabbed Hidan to keep him from running anymore, his fingers digging into the black fabric of Hidan’s pyjamas, keeping Hidan firmly locked in his grip. Hidan stopped struggling and stared up at him, horrified. “It doesn’t matter. Stop.”

Kakuzu unclenched his fists, and released Hidan, before Kakuzu led him over to his own pod.

“Putting a person into hibernation requires special equipment,” he explained again, pointing at the side of the pod where the passenger information and the machinery was. “Do you remember the procedures we went through at the facility where they put us into hypersleep before we were put into the pods? These pods are designed to keep us in hibernation and to wake us up at the right time. But they can’t put us back to sleep.”

Hidan stared at Kakuzu’s pod, the truth of Kakuzu’s words dawning on him.

“They can’t put us back to sleep?” Hidan turned, to look back up at Kakuzu. Distress scribbled all over his features once again.

Kakuzu shook his head defeatedly. “No.”

“And there’s no other way back into hibernation?”

“No.”

“But there _has_ to be,” Hidan insisted. He leaned closer to Kakuzu, and nodded determinedly. “This doesn’t make any sense. There has to be.”

“Believe me, I’ve tried everything I could think of,” said Kakuzu. He looked back at his pod, and Hidan’s empty pod a few rows away. He still felt sad looking at his empty pod, even now. He supposed it would make Hidan feel even more agitated, his awakening being more recent. The best thing to do would be to change the scene, and hope that Hidan would calm down in a more neutral and non-triggering environment. “Let’s get out of here. You could use some food and water.”

Slowly, Hidan nodded, and they began to walk through the corridors towards the Grand Concourse. As they entered, another hologram image flickered, displaying the time.

“Twelve ‘o’ clock. It’s midnight,” said Kakuzu, as Hidan glanced around at all the bright lights, before blinking painfully. What had become boring and familiar to Kakuzu must seem strange and foreign to Hidan.

“I feel like I should be doing something about this,” Hidan admitted as they walked along, his voice low and husky. His head slumped, and a few more strands of grey hair fell over his face. “But I can barely think straight right now.”

“You just came out of hibernation,” replied Kakuzu. “It’s going to be a couple of days before you feel one hundred percent, you should get some rest.”

“I think I probably need to,” replied Hidan, reaching up and pushing back a few of the strands of grey hair.

An old, buried twinge of compassion sparked inside of Kakuzu.

“Do you want me to walk you back to the cabin?” he offered.

“No, it’s ok,” Hidan shook his head. The grey strands fell back over his face. “I’ll be all right.”

“Ok,” said Kakuzu, as Hidan stepped forwards and pressed the button for the elevator. “Sleep well, Hidan.”

Hidan stepped into the elevator, before turning back to face Kakuzu. “More than a year? I can’t imagine…It must have been so hard for you.”

“It was,” Kakuzu admitted.

“You look old,” Hidan glanced at Kakuzu all over, scrutinising the lines under Kakuzu’s eyes, over his forehead, the dent in his nose where it had been broken, and the stitches. “Aren’t you worried you’re going to die here?”

Two lines appeared between Kakuzu’s eyebrows. “I’m immortal,” he growled. A foolish sentiment to retort with, but Hidan had asked a very stupid and rude question to begin with.

Hidan tilted his head. “You too, huh?”

The lines on Kakuzu’s forehead carved deeper. “Me _too_?”

“I’ll see you tomorrow,” said Hidan, as the door closed behind him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> poor Hidan! I have a feeling he's going to find life on a starship much harder than Kakuzu did, what do you think?


	9. First Breakfast

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After Hidan's awakening, he and Kakuzu begin to get to know one another.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey guys! I decided to update this fic as I hadn't for a little while, as i'd been busy with my other fics and I felt like it needed some love XD
> 
> I feel like there's too much 'telling' rather than 'showing' in this chapter, even after editing it through several times, so apologies for that. I hope its still an enjoyable read!

Kakuzu stared at the door of the elevator, almost gormlessly. He shook his head, stunned at the turn of events. Deep down, he had hoped and fantasised about somebody waking up, so that he could have company. But he’d hoped they be…

Kakuzu’s thoughts trailed off, as he tried to decipher what kind of person he’d want for company. He wanted someone who would be…

Well, not Hidan.

He’d want someone on his level. Someone like Sasori or Kisame. Someone calm, who he could talk to, and when he spoke to them, they only spoke necessary things.

But admittedly, there was no guarantee that either of them would be like that. All that Kakuzu knew of their characters was from what he had gathered by watching their passenger profile videos. As he thought to himself now, he realised that they could have been lying, or pretending to have a different personality and motivations to gain passage on the ship.

Even Hidan could have been lying.

Now that Hidan was gone, Kakuzu wondered briefly what to do with himself. Hidan would have obviously have gone back to his room, which meant that Kakuzu couldn’t sleep there anymore. There was no way in hell he was going to share a bed with Hidan, and he highly doubted that Hidan would let him kip on the sofa. Kakuzu wasn’t even sure if he wanted to sleep in the same room as Hidan.

Inwardly, Kakuzu kicked himself several times. He should have chucked Hidan out of the suite and kept it for himself. Even if Hidan had attacked him and destroyed one of his hearts for sleeping in his bed. Kakuzu was pretty sure that if he hadn’t been so utterly convinced he was entirely alone on the ship, and laid down his guard so very low, there wouldn’t have been such an element of surprise, and he could have beaten the shit out of Hidan before Hidan even laid a finger on him.

Instead of going back to the suites, he closed his fierce eyes for a moment, before reopening them. He turned, heading in the direction of the bar.

“I thought you said you were going to bed,” said Zetsu, as Kakuzu settled on his favourite bar stool.

“I was,” said Kakuzu. He shrugged, and then his shoulders slumped. “Change of plan.”

“Care to tell?” asked Zetsu.

“Can I have a whiskey first?” asked Kakuzu.

“Coming right up,” Zetsu turned to collect a tumbler and the bottle of whiskey. He laid them down in front of Kakuzu, and poured Kakuzu a glass.

Kakuzu grabbed it, and took a deep gulp. He felt the alcohol shoot to his head, and swallowed bitterly, holding onto the bar for support, before glancing back up at Zetsu.

“Someone else woke up,” explained Kakuzu.

“That’s good, isn’t it?” asked Zetsu.

Kakuzu looked away from him.

“You don’t look happy,” stated Zetsu.

“It’s Hidan,” replied Kakuzu.

“Hidan, as in the one you didn’t want to wake up?” asked Zetsu.

“Yes, exactly!” Kakuzu exclaimed, slamming his fist on the bar. He stared at the android. “Zetsu, can you keep a secret?”

“Kakuzu, I am not just a bartender, I’m a gentleman. And a gentleman always keeps the secrets of his fellow gentlemen,” assured Zetsu.

Kakuzu snorted. “I’m afraid I don’t know much about being a gentleman.”

“You don’t need to,” replied Zetsu.

Kakuzu sighed, and then shook his head. Regardless of his ability to be a gentleman, and regardless of Zetsu’s thoughts on the matter, because Zetsu _was_ just a robot, or android, or whatever, he was just a machine, just a piece of the ship, designed and built to respond to Kakuzu, and Kakuzu could command him.

“Don’t tell Hidan that I said those things about him,” instructed Kakuzu. “He mentioned something, something about him being immortal. It complicates things. Let me explain.”

“Of course,” agreed Zetsu.

Kakuzu watched Zetsu glide away to restore the bottle on the shelf. He stared down at his whiskey, realising that he had left all his money in Hidan’s cabin.

Damnit.

He couldn’t go back in there without waking Hidan and risking another confrontation that he wasn’t prepared for. He’d have to hope that Hidan was too stupid to want to do anything with his money, and that even if Hidan did try, there would be nothing he could do with it since they were both stuck on the ship.

* * *

In the early hours of the morning, Hidan jolted awake.

He flung himself upright in bed as his eyes darted frantically around the room of the suite. They drank in the sight of the luxurious satin pillows that he’d flung across the floor as he thrashed in his sleep, the glass pane across the wall in front of him that gave him a view of the outside space as he reclined in bed.

He slowly tried to calm his breathing, but the sight of the room around him didn’t calm him, it agitated him more. The room only served to remind that he was awake, condemned to spend the next eighty-nine years of his life on a ship, with no one for company but that stitched up ragdoll guy who’d introduced himself as Kakuzu.

Who had also stolen his room for a year.

Hidan placed his hands over his mouth, as he exhaled and inhaled, huddled under the soft cotton sheets. His face slide further into his hands, as he fought back tears. This…this wasn’t the mission he’d planned. He’d so looked forward to it, spending four months on a luxury starship, meeting lots of new people, having fun, all the whilst spreading the word of Jashin. And then making a new life for himself on Daybreak II, being a part of the creation of a new culture, a new society, one that honoured Jashin above all other false gods…

Hidan let his hands fall by his sides, realising that he couldn’t sit here weeping like a child. There was no possible way that he could spend eighty-nine years of his whole fucking life just sitting on a ship, waiting for everyone to wake up. That was not a life.

How would he honour Jashin, with no one around to sacrifice? Sure, he could try to sacrifice Kakuzu, but then he would be on his own for good. And besides, Kakuzu had told him that he was immortal, so Hidan couldn’t sacrifice him even if he wanted to. How would Jashin like it, if Hidan neglected him like that? Hidan dreaded to think how Jashin would punish him…although maybe this _was_ a punishment.

No, it couldn’t be. Jashin wouldn’t abandon him like that. As far as Hidan knew he hadn’t done anything wrong in the eyes of Jashin. He was one of his most devout servants, the chosen one to be blessed with immortality in that mass sacrificial experiment.

This was…this had to be a trial. It was a test of his faith. He had to persevere.

Hidan realised that he had to get up and solve the problem. And get that Kakuzu guy to help him. If he'd been awake for a year already, surely he must know a few more things about the ship than Hidan did.

Hidan glanced at the clock. It said it was mid-morning, although the outside window was still dark, the only light from a cluster of stars. He’d slept for almost twelve hours. At least he didn’t feel so nauseas anymore.

He climbed out of bed, bare feet landing on the heated floor of the suite. He crossed over a fluffy rug, back down the stairs, to the two suitcases he’d bought with him. One contained his scythe, his pike, and a variety of knives. They tried to take them away from him before he boarded but Hidan protested that it was part of his religion and they were discriminating against him. Then they allowed him to bring them.

In the other suitcase were his clothes, toiletries, and other personal items, which he needed. Hidan actually hated wearing clothes. They were scratchy, annoying, and they made him hot. If he could, he’d walk around butt naked, but that would probably get him arrested, and Hidan would much rather be arrested for something actually worth being arrested for.

After taking a good long shower, and rinsing away thirty-one years of hibernation, Hidan combed back his hair in his usual style, and then ran some hair gel through it. Emerging from the shower in a towel slung around his waist, he selected a pair of blue trousers, and then a white vest to go with them. He pulled on a pair of sandals, and then his jacket with a large fur hood. His pendent, which he never removed, even at night, dangled over his vest.

His stomach growled. Ignoring it, Hidan headed out, going straight to the Grand Concourse.

* * *

“How the hell can there be no way to put someone back into hibernation? What if a fucking pod breaks down?”

Hidan’s loud voice rang around the concourse, shattering the silence and the whirring of the holograms and the little white Zetsus zooming around as they cleaned that Kakuzu had grown accustomed to. It was bizarre to enter the concourse and hear a human voice. Kakuzu wasn’t used to it. It almost felt wrong.

But at the same time…comforting? Familiar? Kakuzu suddenly felt stimulated in ways he hadn’t realised he was missing just by hearing it.

“No hibernation pod has malfunctioned in many interstellar flights,” replied the machine, in its frustratingly chipper mechanical voice.

“But I am awake!” Hidan retorted, jerking his thumb at his chest. “I am a passenger! There are eighty-nine years until we arrive at Daybreak II. How is it even possible that I am talking to you right now?”

“Hibernation pods are fail safe!” the machine cheerily replied.

“Clearly they’re not!” argued Hidan, pointing a finger at himself. “Why am I awake?”

“It is not possible for you to be awake!”

Kakuzu walked slowly towards Hidan and the information kiosk. “Good morning,” he said cordially. “Have you eaten?”

“No, and I’m absolutely fucking starving,” Hidan groaned. He turned back to the information kiosk. “And this is the most fucking stupid machine!”

He kicked it with his sandaled foot.

The machine whirred to display the happy face emoji, before chirping in reply. “Happy to help!”

The men both turned away, ignoring it. As they turned, the face flickered for a few moments, glowing from blue-green to red, turning from happy to sad, before gurgling and shutting off completely.

In the dining room, Kakuzu scanned his wrist ID, and then accepted the plain coffee and oatmeal cube the breakfast bar presented him. He sat down, hunched over as his back ached from sleeping on that tiny narrow bed, took a sip of the plain coffee and then a reluctant bite of the bland mush.

“Gold star breakfast,” announced the machine. Kakuzu glanced over his shoulder as Hidan accepted his breakfast from the machine. He glanced away as Hidan walked over to join him, concealing his envy at Hidan’s tray.

“That looks fucking gross,” remarked Hidan, sitting down opposite him. Kakuzu had the opportunity to get a better look at what Hidan had selected; a latte piled high with lots of syrup and cream, a pot of fruit, fluffy scrambled eggs with lashes of bacon on the side, and a small brown roll with a sachet of butter.

“I’m not a gold star passenger,” replied Kakuzu, pointing at Hidan’s wristband.

“Why not?” asked Hidan.

Kakuzu glared at Hidan. “I don’t believe in wasting money.”

“No wonder you pinched my fucking room then, you cheapskate. Are you in the…underdecks?” asked Hidan.

Kakuzu scowled. “No, I have a cabin.”

Hidan frowned to himself. “Couldn’t you have found a way to pinch someone’s else’s gold star breakfasts?”

“No, for that I’d need their wristband,” replied Kakuzu.

“What? So you’ve been eating that crap this whole time?” Hidan wrinkled his nose as he stared at Kakuzu’s oatmeal cube with disgust.

“Yes,” Kakuzu nodded.

“What can I get you?” asked Hidan.

Kakuzu was stunned by the gesture. He shook his head, and then held up his hand. “No, don’t worry about it.”

“Stop that,” said Hidan, as he climbed back to his feet.

“No, really,” Kakuzu began, but Hidan was already striding towards the machine. He unclenched his shoulders. Well, Hidan was paying for it, he wasn’t, so he wasn’t going to complain. “Ok.”

“Here you go,” said Hidan, presenting Kakuzu with a tray the same as his.

Kakuzu couldn’t resist shoving aside his tray with the oatmeal cube aside so that it clattered to the floor for the white Zetsus to enjoy instead. He grabbed a fork, and then stabbed one of the pieces of fruit. He raised it to his lips, and then couldn’t resist a snort. “Look at that, fresh fruit.”

“Better fruit than vegetables,” Hidan smiled back, and then picked his latte back up, before taking a deep sip. The cream left a moustache across Hidan’s lip, which he quickly licked off self-consciously with a long, pink, pointy tongue. “Maybe I’ll feel like forgiving you for stealing my room!”

“I’ll take my stuff out of there later, and don’t tell me you wouldn’t have done the same,” grunted Kakuzu.

Hidan considered it for a moment. “I guess I’m on the same page as you there.”

Kakuzu gave a brief chuckle, before wanting to cry of happiness when light, fluffy, perfectly seasoned with salt and pepper scrambled eggs touched his tongue.

Hidan spread butter over his wholemeal roll, and then nibbled at it. Several crumbs tumbled down his chin and into his lap. Hidan brushed them away quickly before Kakuzu noticed. Eventually, he put his roll down, and picked his latte back up. He took another sip, and then leaned forwards towards Kakuzu, intently. “So, I was thinking. Maybe there’s another way we can get back into hibernation if our pods don’t work. What about the infirmary?”

“That was the first place I looked, it’s just scanners and an autodoc,” replied Kakuzu.

“Well, what can the autodoc do?” asked Hidan.

“Nothing because we’re passengers and we’re not authorised to use it,” replied Kakuzu.

“There could be another hibernation machine in the cargo hold,” said Hidan. “Have you looked in there?”

The question irritated Kakuzu. _Of course_ he’d looked in there, it was one of the first places he’d gone when he realised that he was awake. “I looked at the manifests. It’s mostly farming stuff, building equipment for houses, replacement parts for computers and engineering. We’re not going to find a hibernation faculty in a box.”

“What kind of farming stuff? What kind of building equipment and replacement parts? Because we could build our own hibernation machine.”

“We can’t.”

“Why not?”

“It’s the wrong equipment. It’s for houses and computers, not people. I’ve told you. Hibernation technology is specialised and there is none on this ship.”

“Kakuzu!” protested Hidan, dumping his coffee back down on the table and laying his hands palm down beside his plate. “You’re not even trying.”

“I have tried everything,” growled Kakuzu, disgruntled by the accusation. He raised an eyebrow. “For over a year, might I add.”

“But…but we can’t just sit here on this ship for eighty-nine years!” insisted Hidan. “This makes no sense…there has to be _something_!”

“Looks like we’re going to have to,” Kakuzu gave a shrug. He glanced up to lock his eyes onto Hidan's, thinking of their most common characteristic so far. “We’re better suited for it than most people.”

“Well, I’m not ready to give up,” retorted Hidan.

He stood up, and stormed out, leaving his breakfast at the table with Kakuzu.

Irritation prickled at the back of Kakuzu’s skull. He reminded himself that Hidan had only been awake for barely twenty four hours. And Hidan was still young. If Kakuzu recalled correctly, he had declared that he was twenty two in his video profile. And twenty two was the perfect age to be young and idealistic. Kakuzu remembered what he was like that at age.

If he was completely honest, he’d been idealistic too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oh dear...well, its definitely not love at first sight! Do you think they'll get better in the next chapter?


	10. Company

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hidan tries to adjust to being awake, while Kakuzu tries to adjust to human company again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! Long time no post...I got a little sidetracked by some events, gifts, and then by the tumblr protests. But now I have an update :)
> 
> I kind of feel like my writing has improved since beginning this story, so I think updates will be slow as I work on improving the next chapters to a standard I feel comfortable with, I hope you don't mind. :)

Hidan wandered through the corridors, sandals slapping against the cool metallic floor, the hum of the ship’s machines barely enough to satisfactorily break the eerie silence.

“Infirmary,” announced a cool female voice, as he stepped into a room that was a pristine white and smelt of cleanliness.

Hidan took in the sight of the autodoc machine in the middle of the room. It was a plain white table enclosed in a glass dome, with various medical equipment attached to tiny little mechanical arms inside. He walked straight over, and tapped the glass dome with his forefinger. It felt cold to touch. Hidan turned to the touchscreen beside it, and tapped it again with his forefinger.

“Unauthorised personnel,” replied the cool female voice.

Kakuzu was right. Hidan wanted to kick himself. He turned to look at the cupboards and drawers on either side of the room, deciding that he would methodically hunt through each of them until he found what he was looking for.

He pulled open the first one to find a selection of scalpels. They’d be helpful if he wanted to sacrifice someone in a particularly excruciating way, but today was not the day. Maybe once they’d arrived at Daybreak II.

_That was eighty-nine years in the future._

Hidan shook his head, urged on by frustration.

_There’s only one person to sacrifice._

Hidan swallowed, and opened the next drawer, to find several bags of fluids. He lifted it up, and wrinkled his nose as he tried to read the labels. The labels were all for strange formulas that he had absolutely no clue about what they meant. Kakuzu might have had a better idea, but he’d already told him that there was nothing in here. Refusing to give up yet, Hidan yanked open all the drawers. He found syringes, needles, clamps, but nothing that would successfully hibernate a person.

Giving up on the infirmary, Hidan made his way back to outside the crew hibernation room, and picked up one of the hammers that Kakuzu had left. Kakuzu had made quite a few scorch marks and dents, but he was older than Hidan was, and Hidan supposed that as the younger, he might just be the fitter of the two.

Hidan picked up the hammer and slammed it against the metal. Hormones released throughout his system. It felt good, swinging the hammer, getting all the anger and frustration out of him. He swung it again, with a loud grunt of effort. It barely made more than a dent beside the ones Kakuzu had made. Hidan swung it again, and again, like he would using his scythe, only to end up with a load of matching marks beside Kakuzu’s.

After several hours, drenched in sweat, Hidan dropped the hammer and slumped exhaustedly against the door. After feeling sorry for himself for a few moments, he picked up the hammer back up and flung it down the hallway with disgust. Disgust that he couldn’t even break through a stupid door.

One of the little cleaning robots zoomed past Hidan, before slamming against the wall next to its discreet door into the storage wall where it was kept in times of disuse. Hidan watched it for a few moments, and then tossed a spanner at it. The spanner clanged against the white metal, leaving a dent. The white Zetsu stopped, making a small whimper as it powered off. 

* * *

Several more hours later, Hidan sat dejectedly in the Observatory, staring out at the sky. By his side was a scalpel he’d helped himself to from the infirmary. He’d started to feel it, that familiar nagging itch at the back of his mind, that meant he needed to pray.

Hidan picked up the scalpel, and then drew a cut across the palm of his right hand. He wrinkled his nose, wincing at the pain, before shrugging it off. He’d feel better soon.

He leant down, and then drew a perfect circle with the blood that pumped out of him, before a triangle inside the circle.

Hidan lay down on his back inside the circle, prostrating himself. He would have stabbed himself too, but his body was still weary from hibernation and he wasn’t sure if he could take it right now. He hoped Jashin would understand.

Instead, with his bloody hand he lifted his rosary from his chest to his lips. He kissed it deeply.

“Dear lord Jashin,” he murmured. “I boarded the Akatsuki with a mission. To spread your sacred word of death and destruction. But I…I have failed. I don’t understand what it is you want me to do. I will likely spend the next eighty-nine years here with no sacrifices to honour you with. You blessed me with immortality so I could grant the gift of death to others, and yet everyone here is in hibernation, neither truly alive or dead. Help me understand what you want me to do. Is this your punishment on me? Have I transgressed? Please, forgive me if I have transgressed. I will be a better servant in future. Or could this be your sign to me that my mission is foolhardy? It seems such a strange sign. Please, give me guidance to what you want from me.”

He sighed heavily. He still felt conflicted and confused, but it helped, being able to voice his feelings and concerns. He turned to the next topic that plagued his mind.

“There is only one man here for company. I cannot sacrifice him because he is immortal as well, and perhaps with his knowledge from his year on the ship, he could be my only chance of going back to sleep and fulfilling my mission, though he seems to have accepted our fate. Our fate to just…live here for eighty-nine years. Doing nothing. I can’t…I can’t think of anything worse right now. Could this be what you want of me, to convert Kakuzu? To bring him to your fold? Is that why you have given me all this time?”

Hidan trailed off, falling into the familiar trance whenever he prayed. His murmured words didn’t make any sense now, but he fervently clutched his rosary to his lips. 

* * *

Unbeknownst to Hidan, Kakuzu had been jogging along the corridors of the ship. After breakfast, he’d returned to Hidan’s room to collect his belongings and his money. Thankfully, the money was all still in intact. Kakuzu sat recounting it back in the tiny cabin that had been assigned to him.

Briefly, he debated whether or not to steal another luxury suite for himself now that Hidan had reclaimed his, but decided against it for the time being. There was a suite beside Hidan’s that said it belonged to Sasori, but if Hidan had woken up, what were the chances that Sasori could also wake up? Kakuzu couldn’t be bothered to play ‘musical rooms.’

After safely stashing his money away in its former hiding place, Kakuzu decided that what he really needed was to exercise to make sure his muscles didn’t waste away. As he jogged through the ship, he noticed that he couldn’t spot Hidan anywhere. At first Kakuzu was relieved, as he wasn’t sure if he could deal with Hidan again so soon after Hidan’s outburst at breakfast. His head was pounding slightly, with irritancy. Although he’d longed for company during his isolation, now that he had it, he was struggling to readjust.

The thing about people was, even if you didn’t have to talk to them, or see them, or even spend time with them, if they were in your environment, then you _still had to deal with them_.

You still had to think about them and adapt your behaviour because of their presence. Now Kakuzu could no longer put his guard down, because Hidan was here. Already he was missing a heart, although he hadn’t told Hidan that. Four hearts were still enough to ensure he made it to Daybreak II in eighty-nine years, but what if Hidan realised how Kakuzu’s immortality worked and decided to kill him properly?

And what if Hidan decided to annoy him? What if Hidan shredded up his money and tore his books in two? What if he kept talking and wouldn’t shut up?

He’d said he was immortal. But Kakuzu didn’t know _how_ he was immortal. And if Hidan did those things, and pissed him off, then Kakuzu wouldn’t be able to do anything. He could punch Hidan, but even then, he still wouldn’t be rid of Hidan. The only thing to change would be that Hidan would probably be a very pissed off Hidan.

Like it or not, Hidan and Kakuzu were stuck together for eighty-nine years.

Finally, he reached the Observatory. Kakuzu slowed his pace, deciding that he would step in and sit down for a rest period, before he jogged back to the cabin.

The doors slid open, and Kakuzu stepped in. His eyes flickered around. It was quiet, as always, and for a few seconds he thought that he had it to himself.

Then he focused on the sight in the middle of the room.

What he saw made his stomach turn.

Hidan lay collapsed on the floor, in a weird symbol that seemed to have been painted with blood. There was blood welling over his mouth, trickling down his wrist and bare arm, and was it only his shirt too.

“Hidan!” he yelled, rushing across the room and shaking Hidan frantically. His eyes scanned Hidan’s body, looking for vital signs. The irony that his only human company in over a year could be dead so quickly and so soon seemed excruciatingly cruel. And yet he didn’t even _like_ Hidan.

Hidan coughed, before staring at Kakuzu with hostile eyes. “What the fuck was that for? Why’d you interrupt me?”

“Interrupt you?” Kakuzu recoiled away from Hidan with horror. His hands released Hidan’s shoulders, so that Hidan slumped back against the ground. Kakuzu held his hands away from himself disgustedly. “What are you even doing?”

“Can’t you see I’m praying, fucker?” Hidan demanded, pointing a finger at the painted blood symbol.

“I thought you’d hurt yourself,” replied Kakuzu, lowering his voice to a more reasonable tone. “I thought you’d hurt yourself and there was no one else around to help you. I’m afraid I am unfamiliar with such…prayers.”

He tossed a glare at Hidan’s bloody circle.

Hidan sat up. “I suppose not, since you’re a heathen.”

Two lines appeared between Kakuzu’s eyebrows. “Beg your pardon?”

“Heathen,” replied Hidan. “A non-believer.”

“Right,” said Kakuzu, folding his arms disdainfully. “Well, since you’re all right, I’ll be leaving then.”

“It’s all right, I was almost finished anyway,” Hidan stood up, and stretched himself out. He glanced at his palm, where he had made the cut.

Already, it had completely healed.

So he was still in Jashin’s favour. Jashin was still here, even in the depth of space. Hidan smiled.

Kakuzu noticed Hidan’s glance towards his palm, and then noticed the way the circle had been drawn on the floor. There were stray finger marks around the edges, meaning that Hidan had to have drawn with the palm of his hand. With the glance to his palm, Kakuzu immediately suspected that Hidan had to have cut his hand, even if the physical sign of the injury was gone. Kakuzu stored away the knowledge, wondering if this was how Hidan’s supposed immortality worked.

As he thought to himself, one of the little white cleaning robots zoomed over, and began to erase Hidan’s blood from the floor.

“Hey, hey, stop that you little shit, that’s holy!” Hidan aimed a kick at the robot.

“Leave them!” scolded Kakuzu. “Let them do their job. When I come to the Observatory I don’t want to have to sit next to a puddle of your blood.”

“It’s sacred!” insisted Hidan.

“I don’t care,” snapped Kakuzu. “I really, really don’t care.”

“You should care, because if you don’t repent, your soul is on the line!”

_For goodness sake_ , Kakuzu thought to himself.

“I don’t want to hear your weird religious babble,” Kakuzu retorted.

“ _Weird_? My religion is weird to you?!” Hidan exploded.

“Yes,” said Kakuzu. “If you want to practise it, practise it in your own room.”

“I’ll practise it where I like. This ship belongs to both of us!”

“It belongs to the New Dawn company.”

“They’re asleep!”

Kakuzu narrowed his eyes. “If that’s so, then I’ll make you a deal. You stay on your half, which is your room, your side of the concourse, and I’ll stay on my half, which is the cabins and my side of the concourse with the bar. I don’t want to hear or speak to you, and especially none of your religious crap.”

Hidan looked taken aback.

“Is that clear?” barked Kakuzu.

“Fucking crystal!” Hidan yelled. “I don’t want to see you either!”

“Good,” grunted Kakuzu.

He turned away, but the pupil of his left eye slid back to keep an eye on Hidan’s behaviour as he left the room.

* * *

When Hidan returned to his room, he found that Kakuzu had removed his belongings and tidied up so that it was as if he’d never been. Hidan was pleased to have his room back, but almost immediately he felt a twinge of loneliness.

It wasn’t like he’d never been alone before. As a Jashinist priest, he walked from country to country, preaching and teaching the Way of Jashin to those who would listen.

Mostly, they didn’t listen, so Hidan ended up doing a lot of sacrificing instead. But that was ok. For several moments, Hidan was the most important person in someone else’s life. He was directly linked to them, felt their thoughts, their feelings, their fear.

He was always with people.

And even if he wasn’t sacrificing, if he was resting for the night at an inn, there were always people around. There were pretty barmaids to talk to, old roughened warriors to taunt, kids to yell at if they crossed his path.

Now…there was no one.

Apart from Kakuzu.

And Kakuzu was a cunt.

With little else to do, Hidan went to bed with frustration. He lay on his back, looking out the window at space. Then that grew boring, so he rolled over to watch the interactive screen on the wall. It was a picture of the waterfalls at Takigakure. Kakuzu had probably left it there. Hidan couldn’t be bothered to change it, and so he watched the water tumble and crash, before it soothed him to sleep.

The next morning, he headed to the dining room, and scanned his wrist ID. He selected the same latte as yesterday, and then a different breakfast meal. As soon as he placed his tray down on the nearest table, he remembered having breakfast with Kakuzu yesterday, and Kakuzu’s gross lump of oatmeal. Hidan clamoured back to his feet and walked back over to the bar. He scanned his wrist ID again and collected another tray. He laid it on a different table, before returning to his breakfast.

After breakfast, Hidan took to wandering around the ship aimlessly. He barely knew where everything was, and since he didn’t want to talk to Kakuzu, didn’t want to risk stepping on Kakuzu’s ‘side.’

Finally, he glanced in a room and spotted a pool. The pool was a nice size, long enough to pick up a pace, and ended with a glass dome facing out to space.

“Fucking sweet!” Hidan grinned. He couldn’t be bothered to go back to his suite to fetch his swimming shorts, and so he stripped off naked, and jumped in.

Hidan started with a few warm-up laps, before he really began to swim. He pounded away at the water, loosing count of how many laps he’d done.

Eventually, he began to grow bored of the endless movements, and slowed his pace, before clamouring out of the pool. He collapsed on one of the deck chairs, wiping the sweat from his brow.

Now what?

Hidan picked up his clothes in his hands and started to walk back down the corridors to his room, without bothering to put them back on. No one was going to see him, so why not? 

* * *

It didn’t take long for Hidan to go insane from the lack of company.

After his fruitless attempts to re-enter hibernation, he decided to unpack his stuff, thinking that he would feel more comfortable with his stuff around him.

But it still felt out of place. Out of place and wrong. It just reminded him that he was here too soon, that he was awake and he shouldn’t be.

And there was nothing to do. There was no one to talk to, no one to fight, no one to sacrifice, no way to please Jashin.

Hidan sat on his bed, sharpening his scythe, his weapons, until they gleamed. But then he gave up, since he wasn’t going to use them for another eighty-nine years, so what was the point?

Instead, each morning, he woke up, then remained dwelling in bed, because there was no point in getting up. Since he couldn’t do anything of the things he wanted to, then what was the point?

He felt energy draining from his body, and the desire to do things that normally made him happy slipped away. Usually he would have loved a hot shower or a hot bath, but now he simply couldn’t be bothered to crawl out of bed, walk the five paces to the bathroom and flick the taps on. And even when he could, he couldn’t be bothered to stand up, or raise his arms to wash his hair.

“Not good,” murmured Hidan, laying on his back burrowed under the blankets, as he entwined his rosary between his fingers. “Not good…”

His growling stomach gnawed at his insides. He’d have to leave and get some food soon.

Once the pain in his stomach became unbearable, only then did he stumble out of bed, crawl across the room, stagger down the stairs, and then crawl out into the corridors.

When he reached the corridors, the activity stimulated him slightly. Hidan stood up properly, and walked down the corridors, leaning one hand on the wall, finding his way into the dining room. He let go of the wall, and braved the walk towards the breakfast bar by himself. Once he reached it, he wasted no time in waving his wrist ID band and accepting the tray.

It was only when he sat down that he thought of Kakuzu again.

“No way am I socialising with that heathen,” he said out loud. His voice sounded strange. Hidan coughed, clearing his throat. He clenched the brown roll the breakfast bar had given him and then threw it on the floor.

One of the white Zetsus zoomed over and started to vacuum up the mess. Hidan glared at it, as it had the sheer audacity to brush against his foot.

“FUCK OFF!” he roared.

The Zetsu squealed away, and then Hidan had a childish idea.

“Hey come back!” he called. “I’ve got something for you!”

The white Zetsu zoomed back. Hidan tossed a piece of fruit at it and chortled with laughter. He threw another piece, this time hitting the poor Zetsu. As the Zetsu squealed again, Hidan laughed again.

_How is it that I’ve come to enjoy throwing fruit at robots?_

Hidan slunk back down in his seat, and then drained the latte. He felt the warm liquid fill the empty pit in his belly and began to feel slightly better for it. But he was still pissed. Still frustrated, and annoyed, and lonely. The brief game with the Zetsu had filled him with some energy, but even that was fading away.

_You could go and talk to Kakuzu._

“I’m not talking to that heathen,” Hidan repeated, stabbing a pancake drowned in syrup.

_He’s all you’ve got._

“He’s a cunt,” Hidan announced to the room, chewing with his mouth full of syrupy pancake.

_He might be a funny cunt._

“Maybe,” Hidan stated. He finished chewing a second pancake, before making up his mind.

After returning to his suite, showering, and dressing, and making himself semi-presentable, Hidan began to stroll the Akatsuki, looking for Kakuzu. He didn’t know where Kakuzu’s room was. Hidan guessed it had to be a cabin where the general passengers stayed, and not the gold star passengers, but he didn’t know where they were, and he didn’t want to get lost. The ship was so big, and so bland compared to earth, what if he never found his way back to his room again?

He didn’t even know where or what Kakuzu liked doing. How had the old man coped being awake for a year on his own?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well! Do you think Kakuzu and Hidan are going to get along now?


	11. Bonding

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hidan seeks out Kakuzu to put an end to his loneliness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two months later, and I finally have an update XD what am I like?! I do find sci-fi harder to write than modern au/fantasy aus, and there's a lot of stuff I want to do to this fic as my writing has improved over the past year.
> 
> once again i'm very conscious that a lot of the dialogue in this fic is quite similar to the film :/ and that it follows it very closely. But it will divert soon enough!
> 
> I hope you enjoy seeing Kakuzu and Hidan finally bonding!

Hidan decided his best bet was to go to the places that Kakuzu had already shown him, meaning the dining room, the Observatory, the Grand Concourse, and the Bridge where the crew slept. He’d already been to the dining room when he’d eaten breakfast this morning, and had already walked through the Grand Concourse whilst going back and forth, and so he chose the Observatory.

The doors slid open, and Hidan glanced around.

Sure enough, there was Kakuzu. Kakuzu sat on the ledge closed to the window, dressed in a worn sweater and sweatpants, a book in his hand, and another hand lifting a small weight.

As Hidan stepped inside, Kakuzu’s hostile green and red eyes flickered up. “I thought I told you to stay away.”

Remembering the state he’d been in, Hidan prepared to swallow his pride. “Yeah, about that, sorry man…”

“Then what is it?” demanded Kakuzu.

“I’m bored!” exploded Hidan.

Kakuzu raised an eyebrow. “That’s your problem.”

“I need to talk to someone!” Hidan blurted out desperately. “You don’t understand!”

“I would think that I was in a better position than you to understand,” growled Kakuzu.

Hidan realised he’d hit a nerve. He swallowed, realising that he was rapidly losing his chance of having any kind of civil conversation with Kakuzu. The fear of being alone again and feeling as he had done for the past few days began to creep up on him.

“Hey, I’m sorry, I keep forgetting you were alone for a year,” Hidan took a few brave steps forwards, and then sat down on one of the seats facing the window, opposite Kakuzu. “However you’ve learnt to cope…I suppose it’s even harder for you to get used to being around people again.”

“I was alone before I boarded the ship,” replied Kakuzu, slipping the weight between the pages of his book and then laying it to one side. Hidan almost wanted to jump for joy as he realised Kakuzu’s attention was solely focused on him.

“Yes, but surely not like this,” Hidan gave a wild gesture around the room of the Observatory. “This is the worst.”

“Is it?” asked Kakuzu, his eyes flickering over what Hidan was gesturing towards. “I can assure you, it could be much worse.”

“What would you know?” scoffed Hidan.

Kakuzu rubbed one of the tattooed bands surrounding his wrist. “Believe me, I do know.”

Hidan glanced over and noticed the two identical sets of banded tattoos around Kakuzu’s wrists. “I see.”

There was a moment of silence, as they stared at one another, unsure of what to say next.

“It’s no good sitting around like this,” Kakuzu eventually stated. “You need to keep active, otherwise you’ll lose your strength. Come on. Let’s go for a walk.”

“Ok!” Hidan bounced upright. “Where do you want to go?”

“I’ll show you around,” grunted Kakuzu. He left his book, weights, and coffee where he’d placed them down, given that there was no one other than Hidan to disturb them, and then beckoned for Hidan to follow him as he left the room. Hidan bounded along beside him like an over-eager puppy. When Kakuzu glanced back at him to ensure that he followed, Hidan swore that Kakuzu’s eyes almost held a twinge of pity for him. Hidan simply beamed, delighted that his plan had worked.

“So,” said Hidan, as they began to pace down the corridors. “Why did you do it?”

“Do what?”

“Why did you give up your life on earth?” pressed Hidan.

“Why did you?”

“I asked first,” Hidan insisted. “Why did you do it? A hundred and twenty years hibernation means you’ll wake up in a new century, on a new planet. Everyone and everything you ever knew will be gone.”

“They’ve been gone a long time,” retorted Kakuzu, clenching his fists. “And I could still ask you the same thing.”

“And I asked first,” Hidan insisted again. He probed further. “Were you…running from something?”

The suggestion immediately irritated Kakuzu. The urge to put Hidan right rose within him. “No. Everything was fine.”

“So?” Hidan probed.

Having decided that he’d already said too much, Kakuzu decided to give Hidan a dull, boring generic answer that any of the passengers could have used. “I wanted a new world. A fresh start.”

“That’s what those fucking holograms keep bleating on about. It’s just advertising slogans.”

“Is it?” Kakuzu raised an eyebrow, surprised at Hidan’s insightful comment about the holograms and the slogans.

“Come on, Kakuzu,” wheedled Hidan. “We’re stuck here together for eighty-nine years. Neither of us can die. We might as well get to know each other.”

“Fine,” said Kakuzu. He figured it would be easier to pass the time he had to spend with Hidan if they had a somewhat friendly relationship than an antagonistic one. “I left for money.”

“Money,” repeated Hidan. He almost sounded disappointed. “That’s sinful as shit.”

“Not to me. The only thing you can rely on is money,” replied Kakuzu, as they rounded one of the corners of the endless white corridors. “I was a bounty hunter. I’d collect the highest bounties, the people that no one else could kill, and I was damn good at it. But I did my job a bit too well. I couldn’t safely collect my bounties anymore without the authorities catching on that it was me, and word was getting out of my abilities, meaning that targets would be prepared to face me.”

“So you were running!” scoffed Hidan.

“No,” said Kakuzu. “I simply changed my tactics.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” pestered Hidan.

“I’d pursued various money-making schemes throughout my life. After collecting my bounties, I’d stash them in high-interest bank accounts. When money is saved, it’s value increases over time. Now, one hundred and twenty years, that’s a very long time for it to increase in value. It’s long enough for people to forget you. And all I had to do…was sleep.”

Hidan looked disgusted. “Did you bring anything else?”

“Just my books.”

“Books?”

“Yes, my books,” said Kakuzu. “By the time we get to Daybreak II, they’ll be even more rare and valuable and unique. That will make me a very wealthy man indeed. I’ll be able to make a fresh start.”

“Now you’re back to slogans,” Hidan groaned, as they came to the end of the corner, and found themselves wandering into one of the hibernation rooms.

“Slogans can be what we make of them. And I intend to make the very best of my voyage,” said Kakuzu, as they passed the first row of pods full of sleeping passengers.

“So why did you decide to fly as a general passenger?” asked Hidan.

“None of your business.”

“I bet you didn’t even pay full price for your ticket.”

“No, of course I didn’t. I have desirable skills. Medical. Pathological. Financial. Combat,” explained Kakuzu.

“So they filled your head with dreams, promised you this new world, gave you a discounted ticket and then they’re going to take twenty percent of your earnings for the rest of your life when you make all this new money?” asked Hidan.

“Not quite.” The corner of Kakuzu’s mouth twitched slightly, the stitches in his cheek crinkling slightly. “I’m immortal. I’ll outlive anyone who tries to chase me up on it. I even had plans to do a round trip, meaning that after spending a few years on Daybreak II, I’ll travel back to earth. Then my money would have increased in value again and I’ll be even richer. I can easily fake my own death, outrun and outlive anyone from the New Dawn company who tries to charge me. Or more simply, kill them.”

“That’s sinful as shit,” Hidan stated, before he sighed. “I’m not much better to be fair. I killed someone for my gold star ticket. One of my sacrifices, I nabbed his wallet. He wasn’t going to need his earthly possessions anymore, and anyway, I had a mission to do.”

“So do I,” replied Kakuzu.

“What about this lot?” asked Hidan, waving his arm around at the sleeping passengers. “Are they all on a mission?”

“Maybe,” shrugged Kakuzu. “But I see five thousand people making the decision to change their lives. For five thousand different reasons. We don’t know them.”

“I’m a Jashinist. I grant people the gift of death and share their pain in their last moments with them. I know people,” said Hidan confidently.

“All right, what can you tell me about this one?” Kakuzu stepped forwards, and then quickly covered Deidara’s passenger information. Deidara slept on, oblivious to their game, his button nose facing up towards the sky, illuminated by starlight.

“She’s hot,” said Hidan, glancing through the glass of the pod, scanning Deidara’s features. “I’d ask her out.”

“She’s a he. I made the exact same mistake,” Kakuzu snorted.

Hidan sniggered, before shrugging. “ _He_ ’s hot. I’d ask him out.”

Kakuzu raised his eyebrows, realising that he had just inadvertedly discovered Hidan’s preferences. “Oh, so it’s _that_ way.”

“It’s _every_ way,” replied Hidan.

Kakuzu glanced back at Deidara. “What do you think he does for a living?”

“With all that hair? He’s a female-impersonator,” Hidan scoffed.

“Wrong. He’s an artist,” Kakuzu removed his hand. “But you’re right. He’s kind of cute. Much too young for me, but cute.”

Hidan nudged him playfully. “You too, huh?”

“I don’t care for labels. I like what I like.”

“Fair enough,” shrugged Hidan. “Let’s do another one!”

Kakuzu strode across the hall, then covered the name on Kisame’s pod. “How about this guy here? Do you think his name is Zabuza, Kisame, or Mangetsu?”

“He looks fierce,” said Hidan, peering in at Kisame’s pointy dark blue hair brushing the top of the pod, the blunt jaw and gill markings under his closed eyes. “Mangetsu sounds like mangetout which is a vile fucking vegetable and Kisame just sounds like kiss-me. That’s too sweet. I’m going to go with Zabuza.”

“Wrong. His name _is_ Kisame,” said Kakuzu, moving his hand away.

Hidan glanced at the passenger information.

HOSHIGAKI, KISAME

KIRIGAKURE

32 YEARS

“Damn it!” Hidan grinned. He glanced back in at Kisame, and then smiled again, but this time more gently. “I like him. He seems pretty chill. We’d be friends.”

“I like him too,” admitted Kakuzu. “He looks like he’s gone through a lot.”

“You think you can see that?” asked Hidan, glancing over at Kakuzu.

“I think so,” said Kakuzu. They both gazed in at Kisame for a while, and then Kakuzu was the first to move away. He covered Itachi and Sasuke’s passenger information. “How about…these two over here. Are they strangers or brothers?”

Hidan scampered over, and looked at them both. His face broke into a grin. “I reckon…they could be both!”

“Both?” asked Kakuzu.

“You never know,” said Hidan.

“No, you don’t,” agreed Kakuzu, moving his hands away to reveal their names to Hidan. They both looked in at the sleeping Uchihas. As they slept, it seemed as though the brothers’ hands were reaching out towards one another, as if to clutch one another’s fingers as they slept. It couldn’t be, considering that they had been positioned in the hibernation pod by the faculty, but it was still a nice thought. 

* * *

“You haven’t answered my question,” said Kakuzu, as they settled back in the seats of the Observatory. Kakuzu picked up his book and his weights, and set them aside. Two hot drinks sat between him and Hidan. “I’ve told you all there is to know about me. Why did you give up your life on earth?”

“Faith,” explained Hidan. His magenta eyes flickered upwards, to stare hopefully out of the window at the roving sky, almost as if he was searching the universe for his god. Blue light bathed over Hidan’s face and his searching, staring eyes reminded Kakuzu of the cover of the first edition of _The Great Gatsby_ that he had back down in his cabin.

_You won’t find him,_ Kakuzu bit the words back behind his tongue, deciding to offer the more cordial, “I gathered that might have something to do with it.”

“In my religion, I worship a deity called Jashin,” explained Hidan, turning away from the window and back to Kakuzu. His forefinger trailed over the inverted triangle enclosed in the circle hanging around his neck and dangling over his bare chest. Kakuzu held back from replying that he already knew, having watched Hidan’s passenger profile before his awakening. “And Jashin demands nothing less than the creation of complete and utter slaughter and destruction from his followers.”

Kakuzu couldn’t resist rolling his eyes at that, thinking of every single pointless war that had ever been fought. “Isn’t that…every religion?”

“Well, yes, but in Jashinism we’re more upfront about it,” replied Hidan.

This time, Kakuzu chortled with laughter.

“What?” asked Hidan.

“Whoever said honesty is the best policy…” Kakuzu shrugged. “Carry on.”

“In every culture, there are two things that unite them. Religion, and art.”

“I can see why you’d date Deidara,” Kakuzu remarked.

Hidan shook his head. “I’m not…I’m not a serial dater if that’s what you think. Serial killer, maybe.”

“Me too. Just in case you’re getting any funny thoughts,” Kakuzu replied curtly.

“I wouldn’t kill the only living person around to complain to,” admitted Hidan. “That’s what I was praying about the other day, about all…all this. What to do, whether I’m on the right path, the right journey. If I’m doing the right thing.”

Deciding he didn’t need to hear any more philosophical religious babble, Kakuzu interrupted. “What’s it got to do with Daybreak II? Why a new world, a new planet?”

“If all cultures need a religion for guidance, I thought, why couldn’t that be Jashinism?” asked Hidan. “On earth, there are other Jashinists to spread the way of Jashin, but none on Daybreak II. Jashin is everywhere, he demands his sacrifices everywhere. He blessed me with immortality so I could grant the gift of death to the heathens. Not every Jashinist is granted such abilities. Not even the members of my sect. I volunteered to travel on the Akatsuki to teach the passengers the way of Jashin, and then when I get to Daybreak II, I’m going to sacrifice all the heathens and create complete and utter destruction.”

“That’s very foolish,” replied Kakuzu. “We’re colonising a planet. We need to populate it and we need people to do it. Preferably alive people.”

“It’s not stupid, it’s my religion! It’s the rules,” insisted Hidan, clutching his rosary for emphasis. “Only heathens get sacrificed anyway.”

“I didn’t say it was stupid, I said it was foolish. Let’s say theoretically, everyone converts to Jashinism. Then what? If you need sacrifices, who do you kill?” asked Kakuzu. “Or, more likely scenario, let’s say no one converts, and so you kill everyone. Then you’re stranded on a foreign planet by yourself with no way of getting home.”

Hidan blinked. “It’s the rules.”

“Why?”

“Because it’s the teachings of Jashin.”

“I get that, but _why_?”

“To understand pain,” said Hidan.

Kakuzu picked up a fork from the tray of drinks and snacks they’d brought with them, reached across and prodded Hidan’s bare shoulder. Three identical dents appeared in the pale skin and flushed bright pink.

“Ow! Fuck! What did you do that for?” he demanded.

“There! You know pain,” Kakuzu folded his arms. “You didn’t need an invisible man in the sky to tell you that, did you?”

“Jashin is not an invisible man in the sky!” Hidan retorted. “He’s…he’s wonderful, he made me everything I know, through the journey of experiencing _real_ pain! Shared pain!”

“We’re both suffering now,” pointed out Kakuzu.

Hidan glanced around the observatory, at the floating model of earth, the Akatsuki and Daybreak II. Kakuzu’s words certainly rang true.

“Yeah,” he admitted. “Yeah, I guess you’re right.”

There was a silence. Kakuzu sipped at his coffee. There was at least one bonus of being stranded on a ship with this crazy zealot – he could have a variety in what he wanted to drink now, and it wasn’t on his room tab.

Opposite him, Hidan gave a great sigh. “Kakuzu, I can’t think of why this has happened to us. I’ve prayed and prayed and I feel no closer to the answer. I can’t even think of anything to help us go back to sleep. I almost don’t want to think about it anymore. Is that bad?”

Kakuzu was silent, briefly debating what to say. He wondered whether to be honest, and whether or not, Hidan would appreciate the honesty, or if he should simply tell Hidan what he thought Hidan wanted to hear for the simplicity of shutting Hidan up. Eventually, Kakuzu went with the honest answer.

“No,” he replied. He met Hidan’s eye. “I felt like you, too.”

“I guess for now I can only put my faith in that Jashin has a greater plan for me,” admitted Hidan, staring into his coffee mug. He glanced up, locking his magenta eyes onto Kakuzu’s green and red ones. “What is there to do around here?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well...could this be the start of a beautiful friendship?!

**Author's Note:**

> as always with my work, any comments, questions, concerns are very welcome! i am grateful for short/long comments, your support is very appreciated! i am also open to constructive criticism <3


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